


My First and Last Days of Summer

by Doy0ung



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: 20000 words, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Age Changes, Alternate Universe- Lake House, Boys Kissing, Broken Bones, Car Accidents, Character Death, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Kissing, Lots of Chats, Major Character Injury, Multi, Slow Burn, Summer, Underage Drinking, but teens do that, chatrooms, donghyuck has terrible parents in this fic, dream is major, minor characters in chats, not in real life, that's all that underage really, they kiss, word count 10000-20000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-05-14 22:08:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14778173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doy0ung/pseuds/Doy0ung
Summary: Mark is a city kid with a knack for drawing. Donghyuck is the son of a farmer with a huge secret that could put his life as he knows it in jeopardy. When Mark goes to Grandmother’s cabin for the summer, he doesn’t know what will become of it. But one thing is for sure, Mark didn’t expect Donghyuck and Donghyuck didn’t expect Mark.





	My First and Last Days of Summer

 

 

The sun was only starting to set on the streets. Mark walked past the tall buildings that he knew so very well. Finally, he was on summer vacation. It had felt like forever, junior year was about the worst year of his life. He was excited to spend his summer playing video games, watching tv, hanging out with friends, and drawing the landscapes of the busy city. That was something he could never do during the year. Too little time to people watch.

 

His parents were obsessed with him getting good grades to get into some ivy league school, but he was more interested in the arts. He had been looking into SVA for a while and a few other art colleges, but he was too scared to even ask. He would probably go to a normal college and get a science or math job or something. His mom was a lawyer and his dad worked as a president of something for an important company. That meant that both of them usually weren’t home and left Mark on his own. It had been that way since he was about ten when they stopped hiring a babysitter. He had officially become a latchkey kid. As he got older, it got easier, but he did wish that he spent more time with them.

 

The city really was his home, he really couldn’t imagine anywhere else. This was all he had known his whole life, and he loved it. He loved the melting pot of cultures, the noises, the music, the tall buildings, the food, and most of all the way he could climb on the rooftop and see all the skyscrapers at night.

 

“Mark.” As he opened the door to the apartment, he heard a voice coming from the other side. His mom.

 

“Oh Hi, mom… I thought you and Dad were going out tonight.” Mark awkwardly shuffled his way through the door.

 

“Well… we are, but we wanted to talk to you about something first.” Peculiar, very peculiar. Mark’s parents never ‘talked’ to him, just about grades and what he did wrong really.

 

“Okay. I’ll sit down.”

 

“Your grandmother doesn’t have much time left. We all know that. She wants to see you, Mark. So I and your dad decided that the best thing to do was to send you to her lake cabin for the summer. I know you didn’t plan this but, I think I’d be pretty good to have a change of scenery. You’re always cooped up in this apartment, don’t you think? Me and your father can’t stay the whole summer, but we’ll come to see you for a while okay?” Mark looked at his mom with a sort of bewildered look on his face. Why? Who? What? When? Three minutes ago, Mark had everything about his summer planned out, but now everything got turned on its axis. What about spending time with his friends? What about spending time drawing the city landscape? Why would that senile old lady want to see him anyway? His parents hadn’t gone to that cabin since he was six years old. Why now?

 

“Yeah.” Mark’s mouth and throat felt as though they were both made of sandpaper. How had he never heard anything about this plan to send him away for the summer?

 

“We should be driving there tomorrow, I suggest you spend your night packing. Me and your father are gonna head out.” Mark sat on the couch without a peep. He didn’t hear the opening and closing of the door, nor did he hear his dad’s keys rattling in the keyhole to lock the door. He stared blankly at the ceiling.

 

Morklee has opened a chat room with: Skinny Legend Tae (Taeyong), Lady Gaga impostor (Doyoung), Milkman (Jaehyun), John’s Banana (Johnny), Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter (Ten), Jungwoo<3 (Jungwoo), and Thicc boi inc. (Lucas)

 

Thicc boi inc.: what the hell is this 4 m8

 

Jungwoo<3: Can you talk normally for once?

 

Thicc boi inc.: this is normal m8.

 

Jungwoo<3: Oh my god I hate you with a burning passion.

 

John’s Banana: You have a passion for something else of his too…

 

Jungwoo<3: OKAY, NOW I HATE ALL OF YOU.

 

Skinny Legend Tae: ohmygodshutupimtryingtotakeanapyouasshats

 

Lady Gaga impostor: WHO SAID ASS

 

Thicc boi inc.: crap hes hereeeee m8s

 

Milkman: Hello!

 

Skinny Legend Tae: yo

 

Lady Gaga impostor: Good evening.

 

Thicc boi inc.: it ya boi

 

Jungwoo<3: Hi <3

 

Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter: hell-o

 

Milkman: Oh Ten ur back? I thought u lost ur phone?

 

Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter: My sister stole it from me…. But i stole it back lol

 

Lady Gaga impostor: Why did she steal your phone, Ten?

 

Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter: I’m pretty sure she’s possesed. But you can take your own guess. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Skinny Legend Tae: thanks to you guys I can’t sleep so i’m just gonna be here now.

 

Jungwoo<3: You’re welcome <3

 

Milkman: ur welcome

 

Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter: you’re welcome lol

 

Thicc boi inc.: you are welcome m8

 

John’s Banana: you’re welcome my dude

 

Lady Gaga impostor: Apparently you are certainly welcome.

 

John’s Banana: hey where’s the man of the hour?

 

Thicc boi inc.: I’m here m8 what u talkin bout

 

Lady Gaga impostor: This is why you got a 60 on your finals.

 

Thicc boi inc.: Wedon’ttalkaboutmygradesonthischristainminecraftserver

 

Jungwoo<3: It’s spelled christian you dumbass

 

Lady Gaga impostor: This is why you got a 60 on *all of your finals.

 

John’s Banana: OOF

 

Thicc boi inc.: OOF

 

Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter: OOF

 

Morklee: Jesus it’s been five minutes and you guys sent me all these texts I’m-

 

John’s Banana: speak of the devil (or lucas it’s the same thing). hey does anyone have that video of Ten dancing as a kid?

 

Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter: OH MY GOD NO.

 

Thicc boi inc.: I DO M8

 

Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter: I HATE ALL OF YOU.

 

John’s Banana: SEND IT THICC BOI

 

Thicc boi inc.: YEET SKEET M8

 

Thicc boi inc.: *whispers* it’s in ur dm’s m8. Slide over thereeeee

 

Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter: LUCAS I WILL MURDER YOU RIGHT NOW. IF YOU THINK YOU’RE SAFE THINK AGAIN-

 

Thicc boi inc.: oh crap m8

 

John’s Banana: YOU HAD MULLET HAIR HAHAHAH I’M WHEEZING

 

Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter: i hope you choke on your own spit and die.

 

Lady Gaga impostor: What is happening? I’m very confused right now.

 

Thicc boi inc.: TEN IS GONNA MURDER ME M8

 

Jungwoo<3: see you space cowboy

 

Skinny Legend Tae: can I get a rip in chat

 

Thicc boi inc.: rip

 

John’s Banana: rip

 

Milkman: rip

 

Morklee: i’m not gonna be in town for the summer ugh

 

Skinny Legend Tae: what?

 

Thicc boi inc.: wh0t m8?

 

John’s Banana: wat?

 

John’s Banana: **what?

 

Milkman: what?

 

Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter: what?

 

Lady Gaga impostor: Excuse me, what?

 

Jungwoo<3: What?

 

Morklee: My parents are sending me to grandma’s lake cabin cuz she wants to see me before she dies. Of course i’m the only one going so my whole summer is gonna be spent watching wheel of fortune and knitting.

 

John’s Banana: What’s wrong with knitting? Knitting is fun. I made Ten a scarf, he looks really cute in it.

 

Jungwoo<3: oh my god stop gushing.

 

John’s Banana: I don’t think you should be talking. I hear you and lucas when we have parties at my house, the walls aren’t soundproof dumbass.

 

Thicc boi inc.: OH ROASTED M8. wait what?

 

Morklee: ewwwww i don’t wanna hear about your gross escapades in Johnny’s guest bedroom. Remind me to sleep on the couch if I ever come over...

 

Jungwoo<3: WE CHANGE THE SHEETS OH MY GOD. THAT’S IT I’M-

 

Thicc boi inc.: so no head m8?

 

Morklee: well i just wanted to tell you that i’m not gonna be here basically all summer. I was looking forward to all this cool stuff and now i’m spending my summer in an old crusty dusty cabin.

 

Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter: At least you can text and call oof.

 

-

 

It was only 6 am, but Mark hadn’t slept all night. After packing, he stayed up watching Riverdale and texting. Lucas was still awake (since when did the boy sleep?) and so was Ten (He accidentally took his sister’s coffee mug instead of his own decaf). Jaehyun and Doyoung were knocked out by 9, Johnny’s phone ran out of battery, and Jungwoo was banished once he sent a video of Lucas in the 5th grade. Everyone’s replies consisted of ‘ ew get it away’, ‘burn it with fire’, or ‘what the hell is that gremlin don’t feed that shit after midnight’. Everyone collectively agreed to banish Jungwoo until he either apologized or the group needed some spicy memes.

 

Mark packed everything in excess, clothes, snacks, literally everything. It was kinda funny, in weird sort of way. Mark had never stayed this far away from home before alone, nor had he stayed away this long. He was used to the city, used to the roaring sounds and bright lights. He just felt like packing extra stuff was one way to feel prepared, even if he actually wasn’t.

 

The only real problem that Mark realized about bringing all this stuff... he had no idea how the hell he was gonna fit it in the trunk of his mother’s Corolla. He wasn’t really thinking about that as he packed himself another pack of Pringles.

 

\--

 

The ride was long and tiresome, this was probably the reason that his parents never went to the lake cabin in the first place. It was also boring, the same landscapes of the same 5 trees, or so Mark thought.

 

Morklee has opened a chat room with: Skinny Legend Tae (Taeyong), Lady Gaga impostor (Doyoung), Milkman (Jaehyun), John’s Banana (Johnny), Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter (Ten), Jungwoo<3 (Jungwoo), and Thicc boi inc. (Lucas)

 

Morklee: I’m so damn bored in this car…….

 

Thicc boi inc.: i thought it was spelled board m8

 

Jungwoo<3: WE ARE NOT HAVING THIS DAMN CONVERSATION AGAIN WONG YUKHEI I SWEAR-

 

John’s Banana: Oof. And i thought Ten was stupid.

 

Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter: I’M SITTING RIGHT NEXT TO YOU.

 

Skinny Legend Tae: I read that as titting.

 

Lady Gaga impostor: Me as well, Taeyong.

 

Morklee: I came here to have a real conversation but instead I got this crap show.

 

Jungwoo<3: You’re welcome <3

 

Milkman: ur welcome

 

Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter: you’re welcome lol

 

Thicc boi inc.: you are welcome m8

 

John’s Banana: you’re welcome my dude

 

Lady Gaga impostor: Not this again.

 

Morklee: Okay imma take a nap you guys work out… whatever this is.

 

\---

 

Mark and his mother arrived at the lake cabin at about noon. It looked about the same as Mark remembered it, with a more unkempt garden and the wash on the wood chipping in more places. The lake was still clean, so pure that Mark could see his reflection undisturbed in it. He still remembered playing by the lake, swimming around in floaties, even lighting sparklers on clear summer nights. It felt kind of weird to think about that now like it was some sort of lost secret. Things had changed and so had Mark. The sun was hot and Mark could already feel beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

 

With the ding of the doorbell that was at least 30 years old, Mark could already tell that someone was coming to open the door. He expected a knobby handed grandmother with wispy grey hair tied in a bun, but instead, he got the face of a tall young man. He gave Mark a nice smile that at least looked genuine. The man looked at least 22 or so, with floppy light brown hair that hung over his chocolate colored eyes. Why the hell was he here? Did his mom stop at the wrong house? The man couldn’t have been his cousin or anything since none of them ever came to see the old hag. It wasn’t until Mark noticed the man’s light pink work scrubs did it all start to make sense.

 

“Ummm… I’m Mark.” Mark replied awkwardly, trying to avoid any kind of eye contact with Mr. Pink Scrubs.

 

“Welcome! I’m Nurse Moon, I’m assuming you’re the boy who’s staying for the summer. Please, do come in.” The man, Nurse Moon apparently, motioned for Mark to walk inside.

 

“Uhhh… thanks.” Mark slipped off his vans and walked across the hickory wood floors. It definitely looked like an old hag’s house with tapestries hanging on the walls and flower wallpaper to match. It was all complete with the popcorn ceilings, what a lovely home. Nurse Moon walked close behind him, as did Mark’s mom. All of them were deathly quiet, the only sound being the wind and the creaking of the ancient wooden floors. It seemed like long narrow hallway after long narrow hallway until Mark made his way to a room in the very back of the house.

 

“Grandma?” Mark opened the cream-colored door with a loud creak, peeking inside the room for a moment before entering.

 

“Grandson, you are so old now, I barely recognized you! Come, sit.” Mark uncomfortably sat on an old wooden rocking chair, looking at his greying grandmother. As he suspected, he hair was tied into a bun. Her lips were chapped and a dull color, her eyes were sunken in and had large bags under them. Beside her sat an old wooden cane with a few scratches and a few bottles of pills. She put down her knitting needles (she seemed to be making a scarf) and stood up to hug Mark. Mark hugged her back and got a strong whiff of her old person scent, it was sort of a mix of old perfume and something Mark couldn’t put his finger on.

 

“Why haven’t you visited me?” She gave Mark a harsh slap on the back. Even though she was a weak looking lady, that slap was hard enough to knock the wind out of Mark. This was exactly the grandmother Mark remembered, albeit older and greyer.

 

“I’ve been busy.”

 

“For 10 years?”

 

“Sorry… we’re far and mom and dad are always working.” Mark looked at her with a look that he hoped would at least get him a bit of sympathy.

 

“I see grandson,” she gave him another slap, “ you didn’t want to visit your grandmother. Well, no mints for you tonight.” She gave him a wicked smile, sitting back down in her rocking chair.  

 

“Aw man.” Mark played along, like old times. Maybe this whole summer at the lake cabin thing wouldn’t be so bad.

 

\----

 

Mark finally finished unpacking at about 4:30. His room looked much like the narrow hallways, with the same exact ugly floral wallpaper as outside. His room was also outfitted with furniture that looked straight out of the 1950’s and lace curtains on the drafty windows. Once he stood back to enjoy his hard work, a head appeared in the door frame, Nurse Moon.

 

“Dinner is ready.” He smiled at Mark, turning into the hallway once again.

 

“It’s four thirty.”

 

“Early bird special.”

 

All three of them sat at the cherry wood dining table. The whole thing was covered in a thick lacquer that still showed off the cracks and imperfections. Many a dinner this table had once held. All of them silently ate their dinner, not even looking up from their plates until Mark’s grandmother started to spark up a conversation.

 

“Grandson. How is school?”

 

“Good.”

 

“Do you have a girlfriend? I want great-grandchildren before I die, ya know.” Mark almost spit out his water onto Nurse Moon’s scrubs. He looked at his grandmother with a sort of shocked expression and then realized that she actually wanted a legitimate answer. There was no way this.

 

“Grandma I’m seventeen… besides, I’m focusing on my studies. That and no girls take a second look at me.” Mark wiped the excess water off his face.

 

“Why not? You are such a handsome young man! Like your grandfather, he had girls flocking to him. Why not you? They don’t know what they’re missing.” Mark couldn’t seem to agree with her. Sure, he might be a ‘handsome’ young man but to girls that didn’t mean anything. Besides, he wasn’t that ‘handsome’ in the first place.

 

“I don’t know grandma.” Nurse Moon looked as though he was trying his hardest to hold back his laughter. Mark didn’t think he could be any more embarrassed, but he knew if he thought it, his grandma would prove him wrong. Maybe it was better to keep quiet for now.

 

\-----

 

Mark woke up in a sweat, his pajamas soaked. Over the night it became extremely humid, almost like it was going to rain. Since the only thing to keep mark cool was a rickety electric fan (the newest technology in there) and some open windows, it felt like it was about 90 degrees in his room. If that wasn't enough, Mark realized he had a little problem to fix before breakfast. Groaning, he got out of bed and headed towards the bathroom.  

 

After brushing his teeth and taking a shower, Mark got ready for breakfast. He shimmied his way into a pair of ripped jeans, slipped on a tee-shirt, and grabbed his favorite flannel shirt before zooming out of his bedroom. He then ran into Nurse Moon in the hallway, knocking over a bunch of laundry.

 

"Sorry." Mark started to pick up the laundry, most of it was old nightgowns. ugh. Nurse Moon gave him a kind smile.

 

"It's okay. Did you sleep well?" Nurse Moon heaved the laundry basket back up and stared at Mark, waiting for an answer.

 

"Sure." Mark started down the hallway, turning his way into the galley kitchen. For such a big cabin, it had a surprisingly small kitchen.

 

\------

 

All of them sat at the dinner table again, this time eating oatmeal. It was silent until Mark's grandmother started to talk.

 

"Grandson. How did you sleep?"

 

"Fine."

 

" Was it good or bad?"

 

"Okay."

 

"You young people and not answering questions." She chuckled a little, knowing Mark was trying to make her laugh. "Grandson, you should make some friends."

 

"I have friends."

 

"Not here." Sadly, very very true

 

"Fine." Mark's utensils made a clanging sound in his bowl as he placed it in the sink. He stretched and walked his way down the hallway, slipping on his shoes before walking out the door.

 

Making Friends would be fine, he hoped that he could find some people to make friends with.

 

\-------

 

The whole town looked pretty empty from afar, only a few cabins seemed to be occupied. Mark decided to walk away from the lake and through the thicket. The tall trees towered over him, almost drowning him like some sort of green ocean. Running his hand on one of the bushes, he finally started to understand why his grandmother liked the lake so much.

 

He heard the snap of a twig behind him, making him snap his head back worriedly.

 

“W-Who’s there?" Mark turned around rapidly, looking for anyone. He thought it was some sort of forest monster or something, though that wasn't realistic. However, when he stopped panicking, it wasn't a monster... a boy. A boy who looked about the same age as Mark. He was wearing a plain black hoodie, tan colored shorts, and a pair of beaten up trainers. In his arms, he held bundles of sticks and twigs. Mark stared at him for a moment before the boy ran the complete other way.

 

"Okay..." Mark walked out of the forest and onto a paved road. As he walked around a little further, he saw buildings that you would surely only find near a lake house. The kind of stuff like motels advertising that they had color tv, shops with fishing supplies, 1950's themed diners with rustic decor, and corner stores that weren't actually on the corner of the street.  All of the menial life by the lake stuff. Mark found a particularly boring looking beige corner store and decided to walk in, for the laughs. While his grandmother's house was getting better, the town was incredibly boring and bare. He wondered if he could even consider it a town.

 

The door opened with a dull chime as if it clued into the whole vibe of the place. As Mark walked around, he saw flickering lights, water damaged ceilings, and the occasional rat trap or two. The industrial-sized fridges even seemed to be leaking. To top it all off, an angsty looking teen cashier stood at the counter on his phone. Mark grabbed a knock off Arizona Iced Tea and went up to the counter.

 

"Hi." The boy that the counter droned, he had black hair that hung right about his eyes sort of like a curtain. He looked a little older than he was, with these perfectly chiseled facial features. He was almost like a Greek sculpture, it a weird sort of way. He also looked a little more Korean too.  He made Mark feel like he looked like a 2-year-old, which he pretty much did. The sculpture looking boy was wearing a Tee-shirt with a random band that Mark didn't recognize, ripped black jeans, a pair of black high-top vans, and a name tag that showed the store name and the boy's name... Jeno.

 

"Hi," Mark replied, like how he did with every conversation. "Man, this town is so boring."

 

"Yeah, I can't wait to get out and actually go somewhere in life. Being a corner store cashier isn't ideal." The boy smiled, not only with his mouth but (probably involuntarily) also with his eyes. They curled up into these sort of crescent moons.  

 

"I'm only here for the summer but I already hate it."

 

"I've lived here my whole life, this is the beginning for you." The boy chuckled.

 

"Don't remind me." Mark whined, taking out a dollar to pay for the knock-off tea.

 

"I'm Jeno. Welcome to Loserville." Mark laughed a little, Jeno holding out his hand to shake Mark's.

 

"Mark. Population... us I guess." Mark shook Jeno's hand,  half to be silly, half to be polite. His mother didn't raise him to be disrespectful. Mark laid the dollar on the counter and walked outside.

 

\--------

 

Morklee has opened a chat room with: Skinny Legend Tae (Taeyong), Lady Gaga impostor (Doyoung), Milkman (Jaehyun), John's Banana (Johnny), Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter (Ten), Jungwoo<3 (Jungwoo), and Thicc boi inc. (Lucas)

 

John's Banana: It's ya boi.

 

Jungwoo<3: Hello!

 

Skinny Legend Tae: yo.

 

Lady Gaga impostor: Good afternoon.

 

Thicc boi inc.: m8's i have a story to tell you.

 

Jungwoo<3: god no.

 

Thicc boi inc.: So like I was taking a nap and I had this really weird dream. So like i'm on this cloud and Jaehyun is serenading me with this ancient harp thing and he has little angel wings and a robe. Ten is there and hes... a rainbow? But like not a normal rainbow like it's only the colors pink blue and green. So like the rainbow has ten's voice and like the rainbow is talking to me as Jaehyun is playing his harp. ten keeps repeating ' butternut squash has disappeared. Take cover everyone they will attack'. Then Doyoung comes out of nowhere but like he's not Doyoung, hes a giraffe with Doyoungs face and his voice. Then the giraffe starts yelling at me and hes like 'do not enter the caves' then I say what caves and i'm launched into this cave thing but instead of rocks it's made of rock candy and i land right on one of the crystals. I'm bleeding but my blood is purple glitter? Then Taeyong shows up and instead of Taeyong hes Yuta? Like he looks like Taeyong but... also Yuta? Then Johnny becomes a devil on my shoulder as i'm walking through the rock candy but now the rock candy is becoming a weird monster that keeps telling me 'squares are rectangles not squares squares are a lie'. The monster is also dancing so i don't know what's happening. Then Jaehyun comes back but he gets eaten by the rock candy monster so like I start crying and Johnny does his impression of a parrot because somehow that's what Jaehyun wanted at his funeral. It turns out Jungwoo was the monster and then we ride over Ten because he's the rainbow. But at the end instead of gold everyone falls off and we all die? Do any of you know what this could mean, m8's?

 

Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter: Hold up lemme get my dream book.

 

Milkman: you own a dream book? Lol. Also, why was I playing the harp?

 

Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter: Johnny gave it to me. He knows i like horoscopes and dreams and stuff lol. Oh, Lucas, I think the fact that you're seeing all of us in your dream means that there's some crazy stuff going on lol.

 

Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter: dude. You’re gay.

 

John's Banana: lol we knew that.

 

Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter: know but like… that’s what my dream book says.

 

Milkman: lol.

 

Morklee: yo mans. I met some here in loserville lol.

 

Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter: cool lol.

 

\---------

 

Mark sat down by the shore of the lake, shedding his jeans so he was in his boxers. The summer breeze ran its hands through his hair, tousling the brown locks. Sure, sitting by a lake in your boxers was a little bit of a compromising position, but no one was even close to the lake at midnight. He was finally getting used to ‘loserville’ and even enjoyed sneaking out late at night to enjoy the clear waters of the lake. Along with daily visits to the shop Jeno worked at, things seemed to be getting better and maybe less lonely. He had spent a lot of time watching wheel of fortune reruns and learning how to crochet. Mark heard a faint sound in the back of him, making the hairs on his neck stand up. The noise got louder and soon sounded like footsteps.

 

“What the-” Mark turned around and was met face to face with a boy in a black hoodie,  tan colored shorts… one who looked very similar to the boy he met in the woods a few days before. In fact, it was the same boy. He looked Mark up and down and stopped right at his… boxers. He turned his head around quickly, trying to hide his expression. The boy whispered something inaudible to Mark, making him look at the boy in confusion.

 

“What did you say?” Mark grabbed the boy’s arm, feeling him tense up to his touch.

 

“I said you shouldn’t be here this late, it’s against the rules. Besides, put on some pants. We don’t need any streakers at the lake.” The boy grunted, brushing off Mark’s arm.

 

“I’m sitting here, it’s fine. It’s nice to have fun sometimes. You know you have to fu-”

 

“Rules are rules for a reason, they’re here to keep people safe. They’re not for breaking. Now if you would excuse me.” The boy turned around, starting his way back to ( what Mark assumed) his lake cabin.

 

“What about you, why are you here so late? If rules aren’t meant to be broken why are you here?” Got em’.

 

“Well…” The black hoodie boy stuttered, flustered, trying to look for the right words to say. “This is for a good reason stupid. Now I’m leaving and you better not be out here in 30 minutes or I swear… I’ll find something to swear on. Good night.”

 

“Man, you’re just one of those straight-laced goody-two-shoes kinda guys. Boringggg.”

 

“Excuse me?” The boy scoffed. “What do you know about my life? My simply telling you the rules and you’re gonna follow them, kay buddy? And put on some damn pants!” Fuming, black hoodie boy ( as Mark liked to call him) pushed Mark into the sand and stormed away. Mark looked at the figure until it faded into obscurity, bewildered at what had happened. Then he had a good laugh, a laugh so strong he was wheezing and crying while rolling in the sand. He had an argument with some kid about his damn pants and sitting on the beach. ‘Sometimes you just gotta say f the rules’, he thought, still sitting in the sand.

 

\----------

 

“Hey Mark, we should hang out. My friends and I are goin’ out by the lake tonight you wanna join? We’re gonna set up a campfire, my boyfriend is gonna bring his guitar. Hell, we could go cow tipping. Donghyuck’s dad owns a farm. His dad is such an ass. Never lets the kid do anything, I think his cows deserve it. I wouldn’t be surprised if his dad forces him into some dumb marriage or something once he finds out Donghyuck is gay. The boy would be such a flamer if he didn’t have to hide it. It’s kind of funny how boy crazy he is, but he tries so hard to act straight. The only thing that’s straight about him is his hair and it’s not even that straight. It’s wavy!” Jeno stacked cans of dog food on top of each other, not paying much attention to how they were facing. Mark was stacking cans of spam even though he didn’t work at the corner store in the first place. All of this kind of stuff had become a daily occurrence.

 

“Sounds cool. I gotta ask my grandma though… ugh.”

 

“Sounds so terrible to be tethered down by an old hag. My parents are like ‘don’t murder anyone Jeno we’re gonna go out clubbing and drink bloody mary’s all night. Have fun!’ They’re nice though, it’s great because they don’t care about what I do and they don’t know.” Jeno climbed his way down the dusty old step ladder, looking back to admire his terrible work.

 

“It’s a piece of crap Jeno.” Mark placed his hand on Jeno’s shoulder, laughing at how bad the two were at doing something correctly. Jeno chuckled along with him

 

“Yeah, I know. That makes it even better. Meet us at 7 on the dock Mark. Bring soda or marshmallows or something.” Somehow, Mark actually had friends in loserville… this was gonna be fun.

 

\-----------

 

Mark was standing in front of the dock, waiting for Jeno or at least someone to show up.

 

“Dammit, Jeno.” Mark ground his teeth, groaning loudly.

 

“Jenooooo…” A whiny voice came from a distance, a slightly familiar one too. Mark couldn’t put his finger on it. Crap, black hoodie boy. Except black hoodie boy wasn’t wearing a hoodie, instead he was wearing a pair of light wash jeans and a tee-shirt that looked like it was at least 5 years old. To top it all off, he was still wearing his old trainers.

 

“You.”

 

“You? What the hell are you doing here?” The boy pointed at Mark, an angry snarl on his face.

 

“Hey, at least I’m wearing pants this time. Besides, Jeno invited me.”

 

“That bastard…” The boy muttered under his breath, quite loud enough for Mark to hear. “He said someone named Mark was coming… I didn’t think it was you, Mr. Streaker.”

 

“I was wearing boxers I’m not that disgusting.” Mark scrunched his nose in disgust.

 

“I think your face is quite disgusting enough.”

 

“What did you say?”

 

“You heard me.”

 

“Okay, that’s it!” Black hoodie boy and Mark ran and pounced on top of each other, rolling down the sand, dangerously close to the lake. So far, black hoodie boy had dominance over Mark, but Mark knew that wasn’t going to last for very long. Both of them took turns pinning each other to the ground until they fell into the lake, both getting soaked instantaneously. Mark splashed in the water and black hoodie boy still swatted at his face.

 

“Oh my god stop!”

 

“You stop first!”

 

“No, you!”

 

“Hey hey hey. No need to get all handsy, the life of the party just got here.” Jeno stood by the lake, Jaemin right behind him, laughing at Mark and black hoodie boy’s tussle in the lake which looked… compromising.

 

“I don’t know what kinds of kinks you guys have but this is a little weird. I thought Jeno and I were odd.” Jaemin giggled, covering his mouth with one hand and holding something in the other.

 

“But… ummm… this isn’t what it looks like!” Black hoodie boy blurted out, covering his face with his hands and running away, pushing Mark down once again.

 

“Man, do I deserve this disrespect?” Mark shivered in the cold of the night, getting up to follow Jeno and Jaemin.

 

“What did you guys get?” Mark inquired, peeking over at the bag that Jaemin was holding.

 

“You can take a guess. You can’t have a moviesque teen party without it… drum roll, please… beer.” Jeno smiled.

 

“How’d you get it?” Mark walked with his friends staring at them in awe.

 

“I have my ways.”

 

“Oh, great, wise… uhhh... ruler… teach me your ways.” Mark fake bowed, his feet dragging in the sand.

 

“Sorry man, locals secret only.” Jeno shrugged, taking a can from the bag. Mark reached for one. With the pop of the tab and the sound of the fizz, he knew this was gonna be quite the night.

 

\------------

 

“So he was like ‘how do you add?’ and I was like ‘I don’t know man I’m a failure and I’m probably gonna work at McDonald's and I know what the hell a parabola is? Am I gonna find the parabola of my chicken nugget? I don’t think so.’ and that’s the reason I had 5 detentions.” Jeno downed his third can of beer, throwing it on the floor and laughing his own story. So far, Mark liked this. Jeno introduced him to a flurry of new friends. Jisung, a new kid with a face that didn’t look a day over 7; Chenle and Renjun, two Chinese exchange students who followed whatever Jeno said ( which made for some funny incidents); and of course… Donghyuck, a farm boy (formerly known as black hoodie boy) with a deep deep deep secret that only his closest of friends ( and Mark due to Jeno’s big mouth) knew. Of course, Jeno and Jaemin spent most of their time being all lovey-dovey and everytime that would happen, Donghyuck or Renjun would tease them by telling both of them  ‘ not in front of the kids!’

 

“ Can you guys stop being so romantic?” Donghyuck whined, finding annoyance in how happy Jaemin and Jeno looked.  Donghyuck was one of the only ones sober at this point, Mark not being one of those sober people.

 

“Come on leave them alone Donghyuck, let them be happy for once!” Chenle said cutely, his accent showing through his words.

 

“I know but… what if we get caught? We’ll all get in trouble like that.”

 

“It’s fine. You worry too much. Who’s gonna come out to the middle of the woods to ruin some high school kid’s fun?” Jisung sighed, rolling his eyes at Donghyuck’s worrisome attitude.  

 

“I could name a few people.”

 

“Come on Donghyuck,” Jeno begged, “Let go for one day. It’s a group of kids having fun and fooling around… and maybe cow tipping?” Jeno smirked.

 

“No.”

 

“You’re so unfun.”

 

“Is that even a word?” Donghyuck’s eyebrow was raised in a funny way.

 

“Sure.” Jeno finished another can of beer, burping and making Jaemin laugh afterward.  

 

“Besides, I would never forgive myself. That’s my dad’s farm… no matter how much I hate him… no matter how much of an asshole he is. Why would I do something to hurt the family business or our reputation?”

 

“You worry too much. I thought I was bad.” Jaemin cuddled up to Jeno’s shoulder, is boyfriend taking another can out of the bag.

 

“Come on… it’ll be fun. Peer pressure, peer pressure!” Jeno teased, banging his hand on the wooden log him and Jaemin were sitting on.

 

“I can’t believe we’re doing this.”

 

\-------------

 

Jeno and Jaemin stumbled around, holding onto each other’s arms. Both of them were drunk off their asses. As they both laughed and tripped over their own feet, Mark took the bag from them so they wouldn’t drink anymore. Not that they knew anyway.

 

“Yo. I’m gonna jump the fence.” Jeno chuckled, Jaemin egging him on.

 

“Oh my god sto-” Before Donghyuck could finish his sentence, Jeno was already hiking himself up over the chainlink fence.

 

“Come on Donghyuck- ow.” With a thud, Jeno fell to the hard ground, then standing up to signify that he didn’t die. He held out a hand for Jaemin, being the ‘gentleman’ he was.

 

“M’lady.” Jeno chuckled, grabbing Jaemin and pulling him to the grass. Chenle and Jisung were right behind him, Renjun soon following. The only two left were Mark and Donghyuck. Donghyuck, still disgruntled, huffed at his friends. Mark started to make his way up, Jeno and the rest cheering him on.

 

“Come on. Don’t be such a party pooper.” Mark rolled his eyes at Donghyuck, who still looked reluctant to climb the fence.

 

“I’m not being a party pooper, I’m being rational.”

 

“This is fun! What’s the harm?” Mark kept making his way up the fence, sighing at Donghyuck’s stubbornness.

 

“Fun? This is not fun. Fun is going to the movie theaters or playing with a cute puppy. This… this is illegal! In more ways than one.” Donghyuck exclaimed.

 

“Sometimes… you gotta say… f the rules. Besides, if you stay here, you’re gonna be alone. In the dark. Without anyone there. Spooky.” Mark giggled, looking behind him to see Donghyuck’s expression. As he suspected, it was priceless.

 

\--------------

 

“Mark! Mark! Mark!... Mar… wait what was it again?” Jeno slurred, tipping over on a bale of hay. Mark had restricted them to that area since the both of them were so drunk.

 

“It’s Mark stupid.” Jaemin slapped Jeno’s face but missed so it was on the concrete.

 

“You’re stupid, stupid.”

 

“Says the one who fell.”

 

“Well, at least you’re cute, stupid.”

 

“We both know you’re the cuter stupid, stupid.” The two boys both tackled each other into a hug. Jeno started to tickle Jaemin, making the latter laugh loudly. Mark laughed along with them, sitting in the stables.

 

“You guys realize you can’t actually tip a cow right?” Donghyuck sighed, exasperated.

 

“What? But people do it all the time in movies!” Jeno looked shocked.

 

“You’re dumber than I thought.”

 

“Yeah. Well, at least we can wreak havoc on the stables.” And with that, Jeno started running around, throwing things all over the place. Buckets against walls, unraveling bales of hay, the whole works. “Found em! I can’t believe it’s still here!” All of the boys gathered around the closet that Jeno was grabbing something out of. Paint, 5 cans of paint. Not regular white or beige paint, but bright blue and red paint.

 

“Y'all ready to paint the town red?” Jaemin joked, taking out paint brushes.

 

“What the hell are you guys doing?” Donghyuck screeched at them, Jeno and Jaemin ignoring him as they popped open a can of paint.

 

“Having a good time,” Mark replied, running with a paintbrush in his hands. Jeno was busy painting the words ‘ Donghyuck suxs’ on the walls while Jaemin made a picture of what Mark could only assume was supposed to be an ass. Except it looked more like a deformed peach than an ass. Chenle and Jisung were taking turns splattering each other with paint, Renjun jokingly trying to break them up.

 

“If my dad finds out… he’s gonna freakin’ flip!” Donghyuck tried to take the paintbrush out of Mark’s hands but to no avail. “ Then he’s gonna blame it on me and take out the anger on me!” In his panic, Donghyuck kicked over the can of red paint, leaving a river of crimson everywhere.

 

“Crap. Man, you’re dead. At least I can join you.” Mark kicked over the can of blue paint, the two mixing together to make a muddled purple. Donghyuck’s expression turned from panicked to terrified.

 

“Plan my funeral Jeno. Deliver a speech.” Donghyuck cringed at the sight before him, but mark thought otherwise. Taking a hand full a paint, Mark smeared his hand on the back of Donghyuck’s tee-shirt.

 

“Oh, you’re gonna get it!” Donghyuck dipped his own hand in the paint and slapped Mark’s face, making paint explode all over it.

 

“That’s what I’m talking about.” Mark retaliated, wiping paint all over Donghyuck’s light-wash jeans.

 

\---------------

 

Mark and Donghyuk laid on the concrete, admiring their masterpiece.

 

“This has got to be my magnum opus.” Mark chuckled, placing his hands behind his head.

 

“What a sad masterpiece. You’re right though.” Jisung giggled along with Mark, wiping the last of the paint on his hands onto Chenle. Chenle yelled out a ‘hey!’ and started slapping Jisung’s shoulder decently hard (or well Mark assumed since Jisung said ow).

 

“Where are Jaemin and Jeno?” Donghyuck winced.

 

“I’m pretty sure there sucking face in that closet over there.” Mark pointed somewhere over yonder.

 

“Ewwwww. Disgusting. Right in front of all of us.” Renjun laughed. Everyone was quiet for a few moments until they heard a large thud coming from the closet.

 

“Oh my god you guys are disgusting!” Donghyuck screamed, sitting up and going to knock on the door.

 

“Donghyuck wait…” Mark grabbed the boy’s arm to restrain him, listening out for something. “I think someone’s outside.”

 

“Crap.” Whipping open the closet door, Donghyuck grabbed a rather disheveled looking Jeno and Jaemin. With an army of footsteps, all of the boys made it near the back entrance, Donghyuck trying to keep watch.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“My dad. He probably knows we’re here.” Donghyuck opened the stable doors and signified for everyone to run. To run as fast as they could, to run as long as their legs would take them.

 

“You stupid kids!” A gruff voice could be heard in the background, Mark turning back to see the silhouette. He was holding a shotgun, yes an honest-to-god shotgun. Mark couldn’t make out his face, but he knew this was life or death.

 

His lungs were expelling more than they could even take in. Mark’s legs burned and ached with each long and tired stride. It seemed like forever and a half until they made it back to the chain link fence. Heaving one of his legs over, Mark reached out for Donghyuck.

 

“Come on!”

 

“I have to stay, he’s gonna find me… I know it. It’s better to give up then put up a fight with him. I know.” Donghyuck yelled out to him, refusing the gesture.

 

“Do you want to be stuck with me or him? Do you trust me?” Mark still stayed there, trying to hurry up the process.

 

“Well no but-”

 

“Do you trust me?!” Donghyuck clasped his hand in Mark’s, heaving himself over the fence. The two of them ran as fast as they could out of the woods to the lake. Mark collapsed onto the cold sand, the night sky staring him right in the face. Donghyuck laid down next to him, laughing his ass off.

 

“You saved me. I kinda owe you my life.” Donghyuck chuckled. Sadly it wasn’t funny, it was very much real.

 

“Aw, it was nothing. At least this means you don’t hate me now. I don’t know if that’s a bad thing or not.”

 

“Shut up.”

 

“So what are you gonna do?”

 

“What do you mean?” Donghyuck sat on the sand.

 

“Like you can’t go home right now, right?”

 

“Oh. I could ask Jeno.”

 

“I’m pretty sure you don’t wanna be around Jeno and Jaemin after what happened in the closet. I can only imagine what they’re gonna do when they get to Jeno’s house.” Mark shuddered at the thought.

 

“Right. And The rest of them are too far away… Could I stay with you?”

 

“Maybe not. I can leave you out here by the lake.

 

“Then I’d really hate you forever.”

 

“I didn’t think it was possible.”

 

“Oh, it’s possible.”

 

\----------------

 

Skinny Legend Tae has opened a chat room with: Morklee (Mark), Lady Gaga impostor (Doyoung), Milkman (Jaehyun), John's Banana (Johnny), Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter (Ten), Jungwoo<3 (Jungwoo), and Thicc boi inc. (Lucas)

 

John's Banana: Hey mans.

 

Thicc boi inc: yo

 

Jungwoo <3: hi

 

Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter: wheres Jaehyun and Doyoung?

 

John's Banana: Hooking up somewhere I guess?

 

Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter: What?

 

John's Banana: Well I’m at doyoung’s house and him and jaehyun disappeared an hour ago. I can only assume the worst.

 

Jungwoo<3 : d i s g u s t i n g .

 

John's Banana: i don’t think u should be talking.

 

Jungwoo <3: SHUT UP ABOUT THAT I CHANGE THE SHEETS EVERY TIME.

 

John's Banana: ewwwww

 

Thicc boi inc: what are you talking about?

 

Jungwoo <3: you are completely and utterly clueless. Lets keep it that way.

 

John's Banana: has anyone seen mark? Lol

 

\-----------------

 

Mark was wide awake, laying a pile of blankets on the floor. Donghyuck was sleeping on his bed, snoring away. Mark smiled to himself, closing his eyes to go to sleep. Except he didn't. His eyes opened right back up, starting to worry about Donghyuck. He was worried about things happening back home. What kind of person was his father? What kind of stuff was going to happen?

 

Mark shouldn't be worried, this is some kid he didn't even know. Why should he be worried? Why? Those words stayed in Mark's head as he drifted into a shallow sleep, listening to the soft snores of the boy on his bed.

 

The sun was shining in Mark's eyes as he woke up, making him groan in despair. Getting up from the pile of blankets on the floor, he looked over to see Donghyuck. He was still sleeping, the covers and blankets at his feet. He looked tired like he hadn't had sleep like this in a long time. Mark sat there peacefully for a moment... that is until he decided it was a good idea to start tickling Donghyuck. He jolted awake with a start, slapping Mark in the face.

 

"Ow! Why'd you slap me?!" Mark clutched his cheek, rubbing it gently.

 

"Why'd you tickle me?" Donghyuck replied, sitting up on the bed.

 

"Well, I didn't expect that you were gonna hit me!"

 

"I'm very... ticklish..." Donghyuck's cheeks reddened, making hide them in his hands.

 

"Ha. You're ticklish." Mark mocked, poking Donghyuck. Donghyuck pushed Mark, regretting everything he said.

 

"What am I gonna do now... I can't go home until at least the afternoon....” Donghyuck groaned, shoving his head into one of Mark’s pillows.

 

“We could sit outside and visit Jeno later.”

 

“With how much he and Jaemin drank last night, I don’t think anyone is gonna want to visit them. And... I don’t think they want me lecturing them and telling them ‘I told you so.’”

 

“We could sit outside,” Mark repeated.

 

“Sure… can I use your shower?”

 

\------------------

 

Donghyuck entered Mark’s room with a wrapped around his bottom half, shocking a currently changing Mark.

 

“Get out! Don’t you have some clothes?”

 

“No. I was hoping I could borrow yours.” Donghyuck shrugged, looking away as Mark pulled up his black skinny jeans.  

 

"Fine... You could've waited for me to finish changing."

 

"Naw." Mark threw a bundle of clothes at Donghyuck, smacking him right in the face.

 

"Payback." Mark laughed, grabbing his sketchbook from his desk.

 

"Yeah yeah." Donghyuck slipped into Mark's clothes, everything hanging off him a little loosely.

 

\-------------------

 

Both of them sat down by the lake, enjoying the breeze of mid-day. Surprisingly, it was cool by the water.

 

"What are you drawing?" Donghyuck looked over Mark's shoulder.

 

"A landscape." Mark's once blank page was now filled with a flurry of greenery. All types of trees and bushes littered the cream colored paper.

 

"That's pretty. I wish I could draw like that..." Donghyuck pointed, Mark still busy at work.

 

"Thanks, these are just some sketches though... nothing special." Mark's pencil made a scratching sound on the page, disturbing the peaceful atmosphere.

 

"It's not though. It is special Mark." Donghyuck said his name, Donghyuck said his name. Donghyuck had never said his name, especially not in that tone.

 

"It's not... it's really not."

 

"I'm not good at anything, at least you have drawing." Donghyuck mumbled.

 

"I bet you have something. I know you do. You're probably better at math than me. Or science… or anything school related .” Mark shrugged.

 

“Well, I like singing. I’m not very good at it.” Donghyuck’s face started to turn red, making him cringe a little at his own words.

 

“I bet you are… can you sing for me?”

 

“I really shouldn't. I told you I’m not very goo-”

 

“Shut up Donghyuck. I bet you are. Sing, I’m not gonna judge you.”

 

“But what if you do… but what if I really suck and you hate me so much that you never want to see my ugly face again?”

 

“Don’t think, just do. Sometimes, you gotta say f the rules.” Mark put down his sketchbook and stared intently at Donghyuck’s mahogany colored eyes.

 

“F the rules.” Donghyuck copied, mocking Mark in a playful sort of way. The boy started to hum, sort of shakily and scared at first, then growing in confidence. He stared at the sand the whole time, trying his hardest not to embarrass himself. Mark sat there mesmerized, captivated by every syllable. It was a familiar tune, one that made Mark think about earlier times. It was simple, nothing particularly special, but it was something that he felt was special to him. He stared at Donghyuck until he uttered the very last word.

 

“Oh. I’m sorry that sucked, didn’t it… I’m so stupid for thinking that you’d like it.” Donghyuck started to ramble, pulling Mark out of his trance.

 

“No. no. That was… amazing. I loved it.”

 

“I should get going now. If I come home too late my mom is gonna file another police report.” Donghyuck chuckled awkwardly, starting his way up the small sand dune. Mark looked over at him, confused. What the hell just happened?  

 

\--------------------

 

Nurse Moon and Mark sat at the table, his grandmother asleep in her room. Things seemed to be getting worse, not even close to better. The closer death got, the more Mark wondered. Who was getting the house? What was going to happen to Nurse Moon? Who was going to send him an ugly Christmas sweater every year?

 

“I know you’ve noticed.” Nurse Moon looked up from his bowl of soup, giving Mark a ‘look’.

 

“What?”

 

“Your Grandmother.”

 

“Oh yeah.” Mark stabbed at a carrot in the bowl, mushing it until it dissolved into nothingness.

 

“I suggest you spend as much time with her as you can. You know why she requested you to come and only you?” The nurse, today wearing lavender colored scrubs, started to carry his dish away to the kitchen.

 

“No, why?” Mark thought it was because everyone hated her, not because he was the only one she wanted there.

 

“You were always her favorite. She would always tell me stories about you and your parents visiting the lake and coming to see her. About the Christmases spent in this very room. I know it might seem a little odd to you that I’m telling you this, but she loves you, Mark. She knew if anyone were to come back, it’d be you. Now she’s on her deathbed and the only thing that makes her happy is the fact that you’re here. I shouldn’t be intruding in your life and whatever, but keep that in mind.” Mark felt terrible. Half because he didn’t visit and half because no one else came to visit her. Even though she had Nurse Moon to help out around the house, it would never compare to her actual family. It was like Donghyuck, like how he hates his parents but it’s the only place he can go. It’s his only shelter, the only thing he’s ever known. Mark’s phone rang loudly, making sound travel through the whole dining room.

 

“Jeno?”

 

“ Hey, Mark… let’s go to a rave!.”

 

\---------------------

 

Loud. Everything was loud, covered or radiating booming sound. People dressed in all types of clothes that would never be allowed in school were dancing. They were grinding against each other to the beat of the music. Bright strobe lights illuminated parts of the howling crowd as they jumped and danced. Drugs. Lots of drugs. Alcohol and drugs were littered around the whole warehouse. Most people were drinking vodka from the bottle or shotgunning lite beer. Donghyuck was sitting off to the side, holding onto a glowstick like it was some sort of weapon.

 

“Hey.”

 

“Hi. Jeno dragged me here.” Donghyuck rolled his eyes, screaming in Mark’s ear so he could hear over the ear-splitting noise. Jeno and Jaemin were off dancing, Chenle and Jisung were too young, and Renjun was nowhere to be found.

 

“I came voluntarily… after he called me.”

 

“He stopped by my house. I don’t have a cell phone and my parents banned me from the landline after a wild night of prank calls back in the 8th grade.”

 

“You don’t have a cell?”

 

“No. My parents don’t want me to compromise my work ethic, so no internet or cell phone. We have Tv though. I like watching cartoons when you get the chance.”

 

“Sad life man.” Mark shook his head in disbelief.

 

“It’s not that bad. I would like to have a phone to text and stuff.”

 

“But like what do you do in your free time then?”

 

“Read. But I don’t own a lot of books so sometimes I’ll sneak out to the library. Most of my time is spent doing work. The other majority is spent at Jeno’s house or on the school campus. It’s pretty nice. I enjoy a simple life, sometimes I wish I was more accepted.” Donghyuck smiled at Mark, giving him that signature grin of his.

 

“Do you want something to drink?”

 

“Sure.”

 

“I’ll ask Jeno to get something.” Mistake number 1.

 

\----------------------

 

“Jeno, are you sure this is apple juice? I don’t remember it tasting like this.” Donghyuck gulped down his drink, which he assumed was apple juice.

 

“Yeah, it’s like this new apple juice. New apple variety, it has a very distinct taste. Besides would I lie to you?” Jeno smiled, laughing at Donghyuck with Jamin

 

“You’ve done it more than once.”

 

“Name one time I lied to you.”

 

“3rd grade, you said that turtles were actually lizards that shriveled up in the sun and that they wore shells because underneath their brains were exposed. 4th grade, you said that fish sticks were fried fish penis. 6th grade, you gave me a note in my locker that I thought was from my crush and then yelled ‘got em’ in the hallway for everyone to hear. 8th grade, you said that it would be fine if we prank called the police station…”

 

“Okay! I get it! But would I really lie to you about this?”

 

“50-50 chance. I’m gonna trust you. But if you didn’t give me apple juice I’m gonna shank you, Lee Jeno. Mark my words.” Donghyuck went back to sipping his ‘apple juice’ while the two snickering idiots (as Donghyuck called them) slipped away back onto the dance floor.

 

“This is some weird apple juice. What do you think Mark?” Mark took a cautious sip, making sure it wasn’t poison or some shit. Beer. It was beer.

 

“Tastes perfectly fine to me.” Mark handed the cup back to Donghyuck, ready to laugh his ass off if he knew that he wouldn’t get shanked.

 

\-----------------------

 

Donghyuck was already tipsy, only having drunk about ½ a bottle of beer. What a lightweight.

 

“Hey, Mark! Dance with me.” He drunkenly staggered his way over to Mark, resting all of his weight on his shoulders.

 

“No no. You’re drunk.”

 

“No I’m not, Jeno gave me apple juice!” Donghyuck swung his arms around Mark, swaying his hips and starting to dance.

 

“I’m pretty sure it wasn’t apple juice.”

 

“I’m gonna murder him, Mark… I reallll-” Donghyuck stared at Mark’s eyes for what felt like an eternity, still stuck on his pupils. Mark could feel his breath on his lips, both of their chests heaving up and down. One after the other, exhale and inhale. Both of them stayed silent, becoming oblivious to the commotion around them. It felt as though time had stopped for them. Then he felt it. Mark felt a pair of soft lips against his, warm and inviting. His first instinct was to pull away, but he couldn’t. It felt so right, like putting in the last piece of a puzzle or finishing an essay after starting it 3 hours earlier. Something felt perfect. Donghyuck was the first to pull away, a blush creeping up his cheeks.

 

“Oh... whoops. Guess you know now. Sorryyyyy” Mark wanted to tell him off, to wipe his lips and forget the memory. However, he wanted more. Donghyuck was like an addictive drug, and Mark was hooked with the first try.

 

“Don’t be sorry… keep going.” Both of them slipped out to the concrete sidewalk outside of the warehouse. Then they were locked, attached even. They only stopped to catch a breath or two before starting again. Both of them igniting a spark that turned into a forest fire. It was a miracle that they didn’t fall onto the street or get stuck in some poison ivy. They moved in sync, never giving in or giving up. It was almost like they were invisible to the rest of the world, no one even giving them a second look.

 

“Whoa. Mark get some!” Jeno came behind them, Jaemin clutching his arm for dear life. The two drunken idiots were followed by Renjun right behind them, who also looked like he was about to pass out.

 

“I take it… Donghyuck… liked the… apple juice.” Jaemin huffed out between wheezes.

 

“You can say that shit again!” Jeno and Jaemin collapsed on the ground, erupting into a fit of giggles.

 

“You guys are so drunk. How much did you have to drink?”

 

“1 tequila, 2 tequila, 3 tequila, floor!” Renjun recited.

 

“Oh god no. Jaemin where are your car keys?” Mark turned away from Donghyuck, who was still kissing him.

 

“Here? I can drive. I’m only seeing double Mark!”

 

“No.”Taking the keys, Mark walked over to an old Honda that looked at least 20 years old. The thing had a few dents and some parts might have been held together with duct tape and a wish, but it still worked. The engine started with a sputtering sound and Mark started to drag his friends to it.

 

“You owe me for this Jeno.”

 

“I think you already got something, ey lover boy.” Jeno pointed to Donghyuck, who was laughing at a ladybug along with Renjun and Jaemin.

 

“I got something, alright. Now sit your ass down.”

 

\------------------------

 

Mark tried to carry Donghyuck inside the cabin. The boy was fast asleep and didn’t show any signs of stirring. Mark was already breaking a sweat trying to lift Donghyuck’s legs, so he decided to give up on that idea and just poke him awake instead.

 

“Donghyuck… Hyuck.” Nothing, all that could be heard was the sound of donghyuck softly snoring. “Donghyuck!”

 

“What?” Donghyuck jolted awake, bonking Mark on the forehead. Mark staggered backward onto the pavement of the driveway, startled.

 

“We’re home.”

 

“Oh okay. Help me, Mark.” Donghyuck grabbed around Mark's shoulders, resting his head and starting to close his eyes.

 

“Sure thing.” The door opened before Mark could even get his keys out, Nurse Moon staring at both of them. “This isn’t what it looks like!”

 

“Erm…”

 

“It’s exactly what it looks like, you loooove me, Mark.” Mark really really wished that he could slap the smirk off of Donghyuck’s smug face, but that wasn’t a good thing to do to a drunk person.  

 

“I’m really sorry Nurse Moon… he’s drunk and if he goes back to his parent’s house in the middle of the night who knows what’ll happen.”

 

“It’s alright, I’ll keep your secret. You’re gonna have to explain whatever this is to your Grandmother.” Nurse Moon turned back down the dark hallway.

 

“Whatever god there is out there, I thank you so much right now.” Mark set down Donghyuck on his bed, this time sleeping next to him instead of on a pile of blankets.

 

\-------------------------

 

“So what are we?” Mark looked over his cup of coffee and at Donghyuck.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Like are we boyfriends, friends with benefits, a one-night make-out session?” Donghyuck almost spit out his water all over Mark’s shirt.

 

“Boyfriends… I guess.”

 

“I kinda like the sound of that.” Mark smiled at a disheveled looking Donghyuck. He loved the idea of waking up next to Donghyuck every morning, greeting him with a hug and a kiss.

 

“I kinda like it too.” The boy blushed, a pinkish tint showing on his ears and cheeks. “Except I can’t… my dad would kill me if he found out. Even if he had some sort of tiny suspicion of what was going on. What would I do if he kicked me out…. What if?”

 

“We deal with that when we need to. Don’t you want to be happy for once? To live for once?”

  

"It would be nice. Really nice. But how would we meet up? What about my parents?"

 

"We sneak around. Kinda like an adventure or something."

 

"I'd like that." All it took was those three words for everything to fall into place.

 

\--------------------------

 

It was a lot of sneaking around, a lot of hiding in closets and being covered with blankets.  A lot of kissing on the porch behind the shade. A lot of secret hand holding and secret cuddles at midnight. While things got better with Mark and Donghyuck, his grandmother was getting more and more sick by the day.  One day it was only a cough, next it was the sniffles, then it was all types of detrimental ailments. She was now bedridden, surviving off tea and crackers and bunch of medicine. Nurse Moon was usually at her bedside, keeping watch of her all day and night. He would only leave to eat and go grocery shopping. His sleep hours got more and more out of whack, usually waking up at least 5 times over the span of 3 hours or not sleeping at all. Mark felt bad, but what could he do? He would visit his grandmother's room every day, telling her about how much he loved the lake and how it was great visiting her. Not only was his grandmother getting sicker by the day, but it was getting hotter and more humid by the day too. The hot July sun would give Mark a nasty sunburn if he didn't slather on sunscreen every 5 hours. Nights were usually spent at Jeno's house, making smores on the fire pit outside or playing on the ancient swing on the tree. Mark enjoyed the time they all spent together, getting some funny stories out of it. He hadn't texted his friends for what felt like forever, most of them were on vacation too so he didn't mind. He would have occasional chats, but he felt satisfied with the friends he had made in 'Loserville'. It didn't feel necessary to vent, mostly because there wasn't anything to vent about. He was finally okay with where he was.

 

"Donghyuck." Mark was sitting on the couch with his boyfriend settled in the crook of his neck. The boy started to stir following Mark's whisper.

 

"Yes, baby?" He responded sleepily, taking Mark's hand into his own.

 

"We should go swimming."

 

"But I don't have a bathing suit stupid."

 

"I don't have mine either."

 

"So we can't swim." Donghyuck stretched, raising an eyebrow at Mark.

 

"Who said we needed bathing suits?"

 

"You are not gonna do what I think your gonna do."

 

"I'm gonna do exactly what you think I'm gonna do."

 

"Mark, it's late and dark and cold."

 

"All the better." Mark rose from his spot and started for the door, Donghyuck trudging behind him. Once right near the lake, Mark started to strip off his jeans and shirt, leaving him in his boxers. Donghyuck cringed and blushed at the same time.

 

"Join me! The water only feels about -5 degrees!" Mark splashed around in the frigid waters.

 

"No!"

 

"Please?"

 

"No!"

 

"Pleaseeee?"

 

"Ugh... Fine." Donghyuck stripped off his jeans being careful to keep his shirt on and sat near the water, his toes curling from the cold.

 

“You see, not that bad.”

 

“It feels worse than you described Mark.”

 

“I’ll splash you to make it better!”

 

“Hey! Stop- Oh you’re gonna get it now Mark Lee!” Donghyuck jumped into the lake, starting to splash Mark in the face as revenge. The two tackled each other, laughing and joking around. It was almost reminiscent of the first time they met each other, this time as lovers instead of hating each other’s guts.

 

“Take that!”

 

“Ow.” Donghyuck hissed, clutching his side. “You’re so childish! I don’t know how I put up with you sometimes.”

 

“Cuz u loooove me. You looove me Donghyuck.” Mark made a funny kissy face, making Donghyuck shove his head under the water as punishment. Both of them went on like this for a while. Playfully trying to kill each other back and forth. But it wasn’t to be mean, it was sort of fun.

 

“Yes, I love you soooo much Mark.”

 

“Okay, now you’re pushing it.” The two of them stopped fighting and were now admiring the night sky’s reflection in the lake. It was a peaceful serene kind of night, the kind where people go outside in sweatshirts and take a walk on the beach front. The kind of night where it feels like stars shine their brightest, even though they don’t.  It’s ironic how stars are dead when their light reaches earth. The only reason Mark knew that fact was because of a late night conversation with Ten back during the time of studying for finals.

 

“But… I do like… love you… sort of… like um..” Mark loved when his boyfriend got like this, sort of all flustered and silly over something small. It made him smile to no end.

 

“Relatable.”

 

“I’m trying to be serious here!”

 

“I’m being serious! Who said I wasn’t serious Donghyuck?” Mark gave him a wicked smirk.

 

“So I guess… this is our first date right. We went somewhere.”

 

“We went right outside of my Grandmother’s lake house. Besides, we’ve gone to Jeno's house and stuff, that’s not a date?”

 

“Well not really. This is our first time together… alone…. Outside of a room or something.”

 

“Right. I didn’t think you would want this to be our first date, but we can make it that.”

 

“I’d like that very much, Mark.”

 

“You know how most people end a date? With a kiss.” The boys' lips connected, the once calm waters starting to move around them in waves and ripples.  

 

“I like the end to this date. I hope we have another one very soon.” Donghyuck leaned over to kiss Mark’s cheek, then proceeding to get out of the water.

 

“Me too.”

 

\----------------------

 

Mark was sitting in Donghyuck's room. Both of them on the soft bed. The duvet was covered in cartoon race cars and the wallpaper on the wall was also race cars. A few posters of celebrities hung on the walls, all of them being males. Some furniture was littered around filling up some of the empty space. It was more a kid bedroom than a teen bedroom, but it was room no less. Donghyuck and Mark started kissing, little pecks at first. So far, this was the only time that Mark had been at Donghyuck's house. His dad was out at some agriculture meeting at town hall, leaving Donghyuck home.

 

"Donghyuck? Are you sure we should be taking such a risk? What if he comes back?" Surprisingly, Mark was the uncertain one this time. Donghyuck proceeded with his kisses.

 

"It'll be fine, they shouldn't be home until 8. Stop worrying, that's my job."

 

"Okay."

 

"Let's play a game." Donghyuck trailed a finger down Mark's lips.

 

"What kind of game?"

 

" Let's play... 'are you nervous?' I'll do it to you first."

 

"Okay." Mark leaned back, letting Donghyuck do whatever he wanted.

 

"Are you nervous?" Donghyuck placed a hand on Mark's thigh, tracing it with small circles.

 

"No."

 

"Are you nervous?" Donghyuck took Mark's hand and kissed it, making Mark redden.

 

"No."

 

"Are you nervous?" Donghyuck hugged Mark, Mark hugging him back.

 

"No." He chuckled.

 

"Are you nervous?" Donghyuck started to kiss Mark's neck.

 

"No."

 

"Are you nervous?" Donghyuck looked Mark dead in the eyes.

 

"No."

 

"Are you nervous?" Donghyuck leaned in to kiss Mark, their lips connecting in a moment of ecstasy.

 

Footsteps, loud footsteps. Closer, yet closer. Both of them were too stuck in their own little word to notice. Mistake. There was an angry face in front of the doorway, looking at the two boys in disdain.

 

"Dad." Donghyuck started to panic, turning away from Mark and putting his head in his hands.

 

"What the hell is this?" Donghyuck shut his mouth, tears starting to collect in his eyes. "Answer me."

 

"It's... not what it.... it's-"

 

"It's exactly what it looks like. Why the hell would you betray me Donghyuck? Did I raise you wrong?" Donghyuck still sat there, The tears starting to roll down his cheeks. “What kind of piece of shit did I raise?” The man’s hand was raised, slowly approaching the bed. Donghyuck looked at Mark with a sort of expression that screamed ‘I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.’ Mark didn’t have to look at this image twice to see what was about to happen. It seemed to be playing all in slow motion, Mark’s hand springing out before he even knew it.

 

“What the hell are you doing?” The man screamed at him, Mark still retaining his death grip on the man’s wrist. He wasn’t about to let Donghyuck get abused and watch it right in front of his very eyes.

 

“What the fuck are you doing! He’s your son! Why would you abuse him?” Mark clenched his teeth and looked at the man dead in the eyes.

 

“He’s a piece of crap, look at him cowering in fear over there. And who are you, his piece of shit boyfriend?” The man spat, Mark, standing there getting angrier by the minute.

 

“You’re the piece of shit! He’s gay and you can’t change that if you think you can beat it out of him…. Well, I’ll get him as far fucking away from you as possible!” Mark was fuming, he could feel his face warming. It felt his head was gonna blow up like a ticking time bomb.

 

“Get out! Get out. I never want to see both of you here again. Leave.” The man pointed to the door, Mark grabbing Donghyuck. “Pack your things and go. It feels like I never even had a son. Just a sissy excuse for a boy.” The man scoffed, storming out of the room.

 

Donghyuck had never packed so quickly in his life. He knew this day was gonna come, but why now? Why did it have to be in the middle of their game? Why?

 

They both quietly left the house, nor Donghyuck or Mark talking to each other.

 

“I’m sorry…” The boy started to sob again, this time letting his whimpers and cries ring out.

 

“Why are you sorry?” Mark started to caress his cheek, trying to dry up the collecting tears. Donghyuck jumped into Mark’s arms, still whispering sorry’s to him.

 

“Becaus- because that happened…. And you had to stand up for me… and because I’m such a failure…. And because- be- because I’m crying like this and getting your favorite tee-shirt wet…. And because everything I do always turns out wrong… and because I treated you so crappy before… and because… because…” Donghyuck choked out between his aggressive sobs. He was right about one thing, the fact that he was wetting Mark’s favorite tee-shirt. But a stupid tee-shirt meant nothing now. Mark’s priority was protecting his boyfriend. Right now, Mark was the only one there for him. His whole world had fallen apart in a matter of minutes.

 

“That’s all stupid stuff. I still love you. I love you for you, the way you are. I’ll always be here to protect you. You’re safe now. You’re with me, I’ll protect you… okay?” Mark stroked Donghyuck’s soft black hair, trying to comfort him as best he could. “Everything is gonna be okay. I’m here for you now. That’s not gonna change. I wasn’t about to let you get abused.”

 

“What am I gonna do now? I got kicked out…. Oh my god I got kicked out. I got kicked out!” He giggled nervously, trying his hardest to hide his fear. It wasn’t working.

 

“It’s gonna be okay. Stop crying, I have to keep drying your tears and I don’t have any tissues for your snotty nose.” Mark chuckled, holding Donghyuck’s hand in his. He felt safe now, safe for both of them. There was no more hiding, no more closet kisses and late night meetups at Jeno’s house to not be nervous about people judging them. They could finally be authentically Donghyuck and Mark.

 

“Where am I gonna stay Mark?”

 

“With me duh.” Mark rolled his eyes.

 

“Won’t it be too much a burden? I don’t want to intrude.”

 

“You’re not intruding. You literally got kicked out because I stood up for you, it’s the least I can do baby.”

 

“Eww. Stop being so weirdly romantic Mark.” Donghyuck stuck his tongue out playfully at Mark as he opened the door to the lake house. Nurse Moon was standing in the doorway once again, looking at the two boys who were still standing hand in hand.

 

“Hey.” Mark casually pushed his way through. “I’ll explain later.” Settling a shivering Donghyuck on his bed, Mark was slightly worried about everything that had happened.

 

“We can share my bed… not that we haven’t done that before.” Mark took the shivering boy’s bag out of his hands, haphazardly putting it down with a loud clanking noise.

 

“I’m still really sorry. We should've stayed at your house… I was way too eager.”

 

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. Besides, I guess it’s good that we don’t have to hide it anymore, right?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

\-----------------------

 

Mark woke up at 4 in the morning, greeted by the face of a non-sleeping Donghyuck. He looked tired as hell. His breaths were shaky and uneven. It looked like he had been crying again.

 

“Baby… it’s okay. Go back to sleep.” Mark groaned, shoving his face into a pillow.

 

“I can’t Mark, I can’t do it.”

 

“Do you want me to sing you a lullaby?”

 

“Would you make fun of me if I said yes?”

 

“Never.”

 

“Sing me a lullaby.” Mark started to sing, making his notes off key and dumb to make his boyfriend laugh a little. “Stupid.”

 

“Fine. You are my sunshine… my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey. You’ll never know dear, how much I love you… please don’t take my sunshine away.” Mark whispered, running his hands through Donghyuck’s hair. Donghyuck was starting to fall asleep, his eyes fluttering open and closed. Mark started to put his head down the pillow as well, falling asleep not long after his boyfriend.

 

When Mark woke up again, he was greeted by the rays of sun shining in his eyes. Donghyuck was snoring softly on his chest, making his right side numb. They stayed like that for a while.

 

“Donghyuck… baby.” Donghyuck started to stir, facing Mark. “Morning sleepyhead. Did you sleep well?”

 

“Morning. I slept… pretty okay.” Donghyuck stretched, his hair looking like a rats nest.

 

“So my lullaby helped then.”

 

“Yes.” Donghyuck kissed Mark’s cheek before rising out of the bed and walking his way to the bathroom.

 

Both of them sat at the dining room table, waiting for Nurse Moon to come back from Mark’s grandmother’s room.

 

“So what happened yesterday.” Nurse Moon set down their plates in front of them, Donghyuck starting to dig in heartily.

 

“I went to Donghyuck’s house. His dad caught us…. Kissing. I saved Donghyuck but now he got kicked out. So he’s staying here for the time being.” Mark explained bluntly, making Donghyuck give Nurse Moon a nervous smile as to say ‘Sorry for this terrible story’.

 

“I see. So he’s staying in your room correct? I don’t want to hear anything weird coming from there, save it for when I’m not here. You know what I mean Mark.”

 

“Oh my god! Ewww. No. Nurse Moon that’s disgusting. No!” Donghyuck choked on his bacon while Mark proceeded to make disgusted facial expressions.

 

“Be careful you crazy kids.”

 

\------------------------

 

Morklee has opened a chat room with: Skinny Legend Tae (Taeyong), Lady Gaga impostor (Doyoung), Milkman (Jaehyun), John's Banana (Johnny), Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter (Ten), Jungwoo<3 (Jungwoo), and Thicc boi inc. (Lucas)

 

Morklee: hey guys it’s been a while lol.

 

Lady Gaga impostor: Hello!

 

Milkman: yo manz

 

John's Banana: hey

 

Jungwoo <3: Hi <3

 

Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter: We miss you, Mark!

 

Thicc boi inc. : yeah whatever they said m8

 

Jungwoo <3: you are so fucking dense sometimes you know that?

 

Thicc boi inc. : like a pound cake?

 

Milkman: yeah just like a pound cake.

 

Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter: exactly

 

Morklee: how’s ur summer

 

Jungwoo <3: good. Kinda boring. We went to the beach together, played some video games.

 

Thicc boi inc. : I’m playing overwatch right now m8’s

 

John's Banana: how’s ur’s

 

Morklee: good. Pretty eventful

 

Jungwoo <3: good to hear.

 

\-------------------------

 

All of the boys were gathered around the fire pit, laughing their asses off. July was coming to an end, soon to be replaced by August. August. It was all coming way too soon. These days, it felt like each day flew by faster than the last. Donghyuck had been staying with Mark for a week at this point. So far everything had gone smoothly. So far.

 

“Jeno you’re not gonna get drunk again right?” Donghyuck raised an eyebrow at his friend, not wanting things to turn out the way they did at the rave.

 

“I have a great story to tell about the reason I’m not allowed anywhere for the time being. So okay last Saturday, Jaemin came over… we got a little… spicy. My parents come home at god knows what time and catch me in the act. They send Jaemin home and give me a stern talking to about how I should have some decency and some more self-respect. So I replied with the fact that I too much self-respect and that’s why we got spicy in the first place. To put a long story short, I’m now grounded for a week. What’s worse is I left my private tabs open yesterday on my laptop and… well, I’m grounded for another three days now. At least you guys are here.”

 

“Wow, that is a story.” Mark chuckled.

 

“Jeno, what does getting spicy mean?” Jisung piped up. He was the youngest and naturally extremely curious.  His parents never taught him this stuff.

 

The whole group stayed quiet for a little while, all of the older kids thinking of what to say.

 

“You see… when two people love each other very…. Very much-” Jeno started, only to get cut off by Donghyuck.

 

“NO! No no. Jisung it’s nothing you need to know about okay.” The whole group breathed a sigh of relief. “Jeno I fucking swear if you ruin him I will personally shank you.”

 

“Got it.”

 

Everyone was quiet once again, Jeno and Jaemin cuddling up together. Mark tried to do the same with Donghyuck but got pushed away instead.

 

“What?”

 

“They don’t know. I don’t want to tell them yet.” Donghyuck whispered.

 

“What’s the problem? They’re gonna accept us. I don’t get what you’re worried about.” Mark grunted.

 

“It’s… complicated.”

 

“Dong hyuck. If Jeno is talking about so openly about him and Jaemin, what are you so nervous about? It’s not a big deal, it’s just cuddling.”

 

“No big deal? No big deal? It’s a huge deal Mark.” Donghyuck started to raise his voice, attacking Mark with his words. “Is that what this is to you? No big deal? Is that what I am to you? Is this some summer fling until you get back to the city? Is that what this is? I know everyone knows, I know they know. But I… I’m not ready.” The funniest thing is, when you raise your voice, people can hear you. That’s exactly what happened. Donghyuck slapped his hands over his mouth with wide eyes and started to run. He ran fast, running out of Jeno’s backyard in what felt like no time at all. Mark ran after him, hoping his boyfriend wouldn’t get too far.

 

“Dong hyuck! Where are you?” Cupping his hands around his mouth, Mark tried to look out for the boy. There he was, sitting in the swing on the front tree of Jeno’s house. “What the hell was that?” Mark didn’t mean for it to come out angry, but it did. He was never very good with words.

 

“I’m jealous. I’m jealous of those two. It seems like they were made for each other and they’re always happy. They get this amazing fairytale happy ending and here I am. The boy with the homophobic parents that kicked him out because they caught him and he’s a gay piece of trash to them. And I am a trash son. I’m a terrible person, and nothing you say is gonna change that. I’m jealous of my own friends.  They’re happy. I’m happy right now… but how long will it last? You’re gonna leave me and I’m gonna be alone and then I’m gonna die alone because I know you’re never gonna wanna come back and see me. I’m just a summer fling that you’re getting rid of for some hot girl in the city. I’m gonna spend my whole life watching Jaemin and Jeno as these happy little angels! I’m jealous… and I don’t have a reason to be. I knew this was gonna happen from the moment I fell in love with you Mark.” Tears started to spill down Dong hyuck’s face, Mark trying to console him as best he could. “You know The first crush I had was on Jeno. I was 8 years old and it was me and him back then. Jaemin and the rest of them weren’t around yet. We were like brothers, except my parents hated him. I didn’t know what gay meant back then but I knew I was in love with him. Stupid right? Then I tried to suck it up and like girls but it didn’t work Mark, I only liked boys. Girls weren’t attractive, they’re nice… but I can’t. I was ashamed, it felt like everyone would hate me. I hid, I hid behind black hoodies and everything that made me not me. It felt better to forget who I was than to risk getting caught. I found myself because of you Mark. I don’t know what to do. I bet Jeno never had to deal with this. He and Jaemin are just this perfect little-”

 

“Dong hyuck, they aren’t perfect! Everyone gets jealous! Everyone has fights! No one is perfect. You heard, Jeno got caught! He’s grounded! His parents aren’t your parents. He deals with problems, Jaemin deals with problems, Chenle has problems, Renjun had problems, even Jisung has problems! Hell, the kid doesn’t even know what sex is! Donghyuck no one is perfect, we’re not perfect, we’re fighting right now! I’m not gonna leave you, we just need to figure out how we’re gonna do this. I’m worried. I don’t want to leave you Dong hyuck. I don’t want to leave any of you. I don’t know what to do.” Mark’s voice was shaky, the words starting to break and waver. He was right. None of them were perfect, no matter how much they wanted to be.

 

“We should probably go back.” Donghyuck huffed.

 

“I think so. We did leave them there alone.”

 

“Yeah. I need some space... For a minute.”

 

“Okay.”

 

\--------------------------

 

August was as hot as July, maybe even more so. Mark and Donghyuck tried to spend as little time in the sweltering heat, the two of them huddled near the fan most of the time. It still didn’t help. Mark was sweating bullets most of the time and Donghyuck had to resort to wearing his boxers all the time at home to stay cool. If only they could be blessed with an air conditioner.

 

Mark’s grandmother was still getting sicker by the day. She was still bedridden, always sick with a new infection or fever. Mark couldn’t see her too much because he was nervous about getting her sick. He was always nervous about getting her sick. The house felt very empty without her large presence. It was like there was a hole in the wall, very noticeable and hard to avoid. The three boys only met up for meals, the table always awkwardly quiet. Donghyuck and Mark spent a lot of time together, mostly Donghyuck taking naps and Mark knitting or drawing. Surprisingly, he had taken an interest in what he had once thought of as lame. Knitting had become an art to him. It was intricate and at times extremely complicated. So far he had made a scarf that looked more like half a poncho, something that was a mess of yarn, and a redo of the other poncho-scarf that did look somewhat like a scarf. Donghyuck found knitting boring, but he would watch Mark, admiring the handiwork. Every night felt the same, both of them getting into Mark’s bed and cuddling until they drifted off into another R.E.M cycle. Donghyuck loved the contact, he liked Mark’s touch. Every chance he got he would cling onto Mark’s arm, or try to keep in touch with him. Mark enjoyed it too. Sometimes they would get into tussles (who wouldn’t when you’re spending so much time with each other), but so far it had been smooth sailing… more or less. Jeno and Jaemin were happy too, they were relieved that Donghyuck wasn’t their third wheel anymore. Chenle and Jisung were as naive as ever, although there was a time that Renjun slipped up and almost told them what porn was. Mark still didn’t find anything to rant about, his conversations with his friends were casual. He hadn’t even told them about Dong hyuck, they didn’t know what happened or that fact that he had a boyfriend. Mark didn’t mind keeping it that way. It wasn’t a big deal to him anymore, he had friends.

 

The two boys sat in front of the tv, watching reruns of random game shows. It was at least 100 degrees outside and it felt even hotter inside. The fan pushed the warm air around, making matters worse. Donghyuck was sitting there with only his underwear on, Mark doing the same. Nurse Moon was out buying groceries and more medicine.

 

“It’s so hot, Mark.” Dong hyuck whined, trying to fan himself with his hand. It wasn’t working.

 

“Hotter than me?” Mark smirked.

 

“Extremely.” Donghyuck rolled his eyes, pushing Mark’s shoulder.

 

“Do those boxers have cats on them?”

 

“Yeah. I’m pretty sure they’re yours. I don’t own purple anything.” Donghyuck stretched.

 

“Ewww. Watch those before you give them back! Gross, you’re gross Donghyuck.”

 

“We sleep in the same bed every night and you say a pair of boxers is gross. Mark Lee, grow a pair.”

 

“I know but like it touches… my…”

 

“Yes, I know about your ring ding dong Mark. Don’t think I don’t know what you do when you go to the bathroom, I have one too!”

 

“Disgusting! That’s the end of this conversation! Gimme those back.” Mark groaned.

 

“Right now?” Donghyuck reached for the elastic waistband of the boxers.

 

“Nooooo!” Frantically, Mark stopped Donghyuck from going any further.

 

“Stupid, I wasn’t about to get naked. We’re in the living room. My momma didn’t raise no hoe.” Donghyuck sassily replied.

 

“I’m pretty sure your mother didn’t raise you at all frankly.”

 

“She did! Mark she did. She was a good mother. Just, my father made her follow whatever he said. She taught me how to bake, and how to read as a kid, she even taught me what to use to get out permanent marker from basically anything. If there’s anything I miss from that damn house and from my family it’s her.  My dad was the one who told me I couldn’t do that stuff anymore because I was a man.” Donghyuck bitterly laughed.

 

“Sorry.”

 

“It’s fine. I convinced myself of that too, but really it’s not. I shouldn’t put the blame on someone who didn’t do anything wrong. I’m a different person, for better or for worse. Hopefully for the better.”

 

“I think so.” Mark and Donghyuck’s lips locked once again, this time sweetly. There was a jingle-jangle of keys on the other side of the door.

 

“I’m… home.” Nurse Moon was standing in the doorway, a bunch of bags in his hands. “Oh… sorry to intrude.” The boys turned around, both of them petrified with fear.

 

“Sorry.”

 

“No, it’s fine. A little awkward right?” Nurse Moon smiled at them.

 

“Yeah, only a little.” Donghyuck rolled his eyes, exasperated.

 

“Well, we didn’t really… umm… we’ll be going now.” Mark awkwardly led them both out of the room.

 

\---------------------------

The clouds hung over the forest landscape, like heavy curtains covering a huge window. There were dark clouds as far as the eye could see. But that wasn’t gonna stop, Mark. He had set his mind, their date had to be today. He had finally gotten Jaemin’s permission to use the beaten up Honda, much to his chagrin. Everything was going to go perfectly. More or less.

 

“Where are we going, Mark?” Donghyuck was sitting in the passenger seat, playing a game on Mark’s phone.

 

“It’s a surprise.”

 

“You’ve said that for the past hour! Come on give me a clue.”

 

“It’s romantic. You’ll like it.” Mark smiled, still keeping his eyes on the road.

 

“Well, I’d hope I’d like it.” Donghyuck rolled his eyes. The rain was starting to fall in sprinkles. Mark turned a few times and made it to a dirt path that was at this point more like mud. The rain started to fall harder in little fat droplets. Driving started to become harder, but Mark knew he was almost at the top of the hill. It had taken him a month to research this place and he was not giving up because of some rain. “Mark, I don’t think you should be driving. Mark!” Donghyuck tried to shake his boyfriend, but the boy was just too determined to stop now.

 

“It’s fine baby, we’re almost there.” Except it wasn’t really fine. The roars of thunder and lightning could be heard in the background, worrying Dong hyuck.

 

“Mark, we should stop.”

 

“We’re almost there,” Mark repeated.

 

“Mark!” The car started to swerve out of control, Donghyuck holding onto the dashboard for dear life. Mark let go of the wheel, his throat aching and burning from his sudden screaming. Mark tried to get his grip back on the steering wheel, but it was no use.

 

“Donghyuck!” Mark screamed. Nothing could be heard over the deafening sound of their screaming. It felt like everything was happening in slow motion. Donghyuck could feel the impact, he could feel the car being crushed on the side of a tree. The pain was sharp and intense, Donghyuck opening his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. The airbags erupted out, hitting Mark.

 

“Donghyuck!” He screamed again, trying to reach out for his hand. The car stopped, both of them trying to catch their breath. Donghyuck shook with fear and terror, Mark trying his hardest to calm him. Mark ducked out of the car, try to survey the damage. A whole half was completely crushed, that one being where Donghyuck was stuck. Mark wanted to cry, all of this was his fault. Everything was his fault.

 

“Mark! Help me!” Mark scrambled, trying his hardest to get Donghyuck out. He was lucky. It worked. He and Mark were sitting under a tree, trying to keep dry from the storm. Mark frantically called for an ambulance, still trying to comfort Dong hyuck.

 

“You’re okay, baby. You’re okay.” He whispered, tears still flowing out of Dong hyuck’s eyes.

 

They sat there for an hour, waiting for any sign of anyone. Finally, an EMT showed up and surveyed the damage. Mark was scratched up a bit, but Donghyuck had definitely gotten the worst of it.  He had at least broken his arm in two placed and his chest and arms were littered with cuts from the window glass that had shattered all over him. They all climbed into the ambulance, an EMT tending to the injuries while Mark tried not to cry. The lady asked him all types of questions like how old Donghyuck was and if his parents could be called. The one that stuck out the most was ‘what is your relation to him?’ At first, Mark didn’t really know how to respond, but something was better than nothing.

 

“I’m his boyfriend.”

 

“I see. It seems to only be a broken arm, he should be fine but he probably needs a cast.” The lady didn’t look up from the patient, unfazed by Mark’s answer.  

 

\----------------------------

 

The hospital was a cold and unfriendly place. As they waited for a doctor, Mark sat there squeezing Dong hyuck’s hand, trying to tell him that everything would be okay. At that moment, he was hyped up on painkillers, making him sort of dazed and confused. At that moment, he was starting to doze off into a nap.

 

“Dong hyuck? Is there a Donghyuck here?” A doctor called.

 

“Yes. He’s here.” Mark responded, starting to poke Donghyuck awake.

 

“How did this happen?”

 

“Car crash. I was driving in the rain and the passenger side of the car smashed into a tree.”

 

“Okay. Was he in any pain?”

 

“He’s on painkillers now and he said his arm was hurting.”

 

“Okay. I’m assuming this was an accident.”

 

“Of course sir.”

 

“Is there any way to contact his parents?” The doctor asked, not turning his eyes away from Dong hyuck.

 

“No, sir. They don’t believe they have a son anymore.”

 

“I see. I’ll have to send him down for x-rays. Stay here.” Mark obliged. What was there to do but wait?

 

It felt like an eternity sitting there, even though it was really only thirty minutes. Nurse Moon and shown up with Mark’s grandmother in a wheelchair, her now main vehicle whenever she had to go outside. She was confused, being hyped up on medicine that made her very drowsy and groggy. Mark tried to keep his focus away from what happened to Dong hyuck, but it was no use. In reality, the whole predicament was his fault. He should have stopped. He never should’ve driven Jaemin’s car in the first place. Jaemin. Mark was gonna be murdered. He totaled his friend’s car. A pair of shaky hands picked up the phone, Mark not even realizing they were his at first. His fingers moved to call Jaemin’s number, hoping he would pick up and that he wouldn’t be dead by tomorrow morning.

 

“Mark?” A voice whispered into the phone. It sounded more like Jeno than Jaemin.

 

“Yeah, it’s me. Can you put Jaemin on the phone?”

 

“I guess. You interrupted us, Mark, we were sort of in the middle of something.” The voice whined.

 

“Sorry, this is super-duper important. He needs to know this. Besides the faster you give me the phone the faster you guys can get back to your… activities.”

 

“Fine.” Mark could hear shuffling around and whispers from one boy to the other. ‘He says it’s important.’ He made out the muffles of one. ‘Why….’ grimaced the other.

 

“Hey, Mark. How’s the date, I bet he loves it right? You can thank me now. I take cash and check.”

 

“You see about that… Donghyuck is in the hospital right now.”

 

“Is my baby okay! What the fuck did you do this time Mark?”

 

“He’s older than you stupid.”

 

“What the hell does it matter?”

 

“Also we totaled your car and never made it to the date spot. So far today has been a complete and utter trainwreck.”

 

“I know but tell me what happened to my boy!”

 

“What about your car?”

 

“I could care less about my fucking car right now Mark, it’s totaled anyway. What’s the point of thinking about it?”

 

“What about your parents?”

 

“They’ll understand that my best friend was being a stupid asshole. Jeno already damaged that piece of crap. Now tell me Mark or I will find a way to drive there and personally shank you.”

 

“He might have broken his arm, they’re taking x-rays right now. I’m really worried. I only got a few cuts and scratches, he got the worst of it. We’re waiting for news.”

 

“Take a deep breath. At least I know I can’t let you drive my car… or any car... again.”

 

\-----------------------------

 

Donghyuck was sitting in a hospital bed, still hopped up on painkillers, he seemed to be enjoying his time staying there. Mark wanted to laugh, but he couldn’t find it in himself to let out even a chortle or a chuckle.

 

“Donghyuck are you okay?”

 

“Mark I’m great! Never felt… better.” All four them (the four being Dong hyuck, Mark, Nurse Moon, and Mark’s grandmother) were sitting in the cramped hospital room.

 

“Okay, baby.” Mark let it slip, he automatically felt the need to clasp his hands over his mouth.

 

“Who’s baby, Mark?” HIs grandmother gruffed out.

 

“My boyfriend. The boy who’s been staying in my room is my boyfriend, Grandma.” He was waiting for the insults to arrive and pelt him like a bunch of lead bullets, leaving huge holes in him like human swiss cheese. But nothing came, in fact, his grandmother smiled.

 

“Good for you. You have someone.” She laughed, then coughing up a storm and trying to catch her breath. “I had a feeling.”

 

The doctor walked in with a few cells of x-rays in his hands. Mark felt this anxiety building a knot in his stomach, constantly turning and twisting. He could feel himself getting sweaty and his hands start to get clammy.

 

“The good news is there is a whole break. However, the bad news is that there are also some fractures. The whole break will heal, but the fractures will stay that way forever. Our best bet is to give him a cast and send him on his way.” The doctor sighed, it had been a long day for all of them, Donghyuck most of all. “You guys are the lucky ones. It could have been much worse. Be extremely careful. Okay, we’ll get him fitted and you guys should be on your way.”

 

A few hours passed and all four of them piled into Nurse Moon’s Subaru Impreza. It was quiet or a while, the only noise coming from the beat up car radio that way currently playing a mix of 90’s music. Donghyuck and Mark’s grandmother were napping and Mark was trying to keep busy by looking at random stuff on Twitter. The sky was already dark, the only light coming from Mark’s phone, the buttons of the radio, and the streetlights illuminating the highway. Mark regretted even driving. He felt stupid for putting the person he loved the most into a life or death situation. He felt stupid, so so stupid.

 

“Mark.” Donghyuck moaned in his sleep, moving his head closer to Mark’s shoulder. Mark moved closer his way, bridging the gap between their two bodies. Mark finally felt like everything was going to be okay, he knew everything was going to be okay. With Dong hyuck’s soft hand in his, it felt like the world was there for them to explore wholeheartedly. Even if Donghyuck had a broken arm.

 

\------------------------------

 

Mark woke up in his own bed the next morning. He didn’t remember getting there.

 

“Morning sleepy head.” For once, Donghyuck was up earlier than him. It must have been a Christmas miracle, even though it was nowhere near Christmas. “You like my neon purple cast?” Neon was a word to describe it, the color was near blinding.

 

“Beautiful.”

 

“It’s like your boxers. Picked it just for you Mark.”

 

“I’m so touched that you picked the color of your cast after my very own underwear.” Mark clutched his shirt and closed his eyes, trying to look sentimental.

 

“You’re so stupid.”

 

“And you love me. Dong hyuck, you loooooove me. I’m such a softy for you.”

 

“Oh shut up.”

 

Breakfast was, of course, awkward (when was it not awkward?), but even more so now. All three boys ate in silence, trying hard not to acknowledge anything that had happened the night before. Donghyuck tried to eat, but the cast was a little restricting.  Thankfully, he found a comfortable position and a way to eat.

 

"This cast is so itchy." He scratched at the plastic, trying to make the sensation go away.

 

"Well yeah. I broke my leg once, it does itch a lot."

 

"How did that happen?"

 

"Okay so 7th grade. I was at a sleepover at my friend Ten's apartment."

 

"Ten? Like the number?"

 

"Yes now shut up I'm telling my tale of woe. His apartment had a communal pool and we were swimming, right? Johnny dared me to jump into the pool with a running start. He said if I did it he'd give me a snickers bar. So I did it. I ran really fast. Everyone was so amazed. Then I slipped on the wet tiles outside of the pool and fell right on my ass. My left leg had bent under one of my butt cheeks and then it snapped. Everyone laughed and then started to panic because they realized I had literally snapped my bone. Taeyong and Lucas carried me back inside and Jungwoo started crying while he was setting me up on the couch. I spent the rest of the night in a hospital. Johnny never dared me to do anything ever again. I did get an Oreo chocolate bar out of it though, that was even better than a Snickers. Not a complete disaster."  Mark chuckled. "It was right before the end of school so instead of signing my yearbook everyone signed my cast. I think I still have the pictures of the signatures."

 

“Holy crap that’s hilarious. It makes my injury a lot less cowardly.” Donghyuck chuckled.

 

“Yeah yeah laugh all you want.” Mark groaned.

 

\-------------------------------

 

Kissing was hard with the cast. Donghyuck was straddled in Mark’s lap, trying to hold their kiss together. Mark got the short end of the stick and was doing most of the work. So far Dong hyuck’s arm was healing really well, the only hard part being the itchiness. It seemed to bother him every minute of the day, the only times it would calm down being when he would fall asleep on Mark’s chest. Mark was like a security blanket to him. If Mark was near, he knew everything was going to turn out alright. Even though kissing was hard, Donghyuck and Mark still did a lot of it.

 

“You’re so cute when you’re desperate.” Mark smiled, his eyes crinkling up.

 

“Ugh shut up stupid.” Sadly, Donghyuck wasn’t having it.

 

“Okay,” Mark slipped back into the kiss, “a good way to shut up, right?”  

 

“Yes baby,” Donghyuck pulled away and stopped, “ Mark. Your phone is ringing.”

 

“My… what?” Mark picked up the phone hesitantly, seeing a number on the caller ID he had never seen before. “Hello?”

 

“Mark…. It’s your Grandma.” The voice was familiar, then Mark realized. It was Nurse Moon.

 

“What? Where are you!” He screamed into the phone, trying to think of every possible situation.

 

“We’re at the hospital…. Get someone to drive you over. Please, I don’t know how much longer she’s gonna make it. She said she was having chest pains and now it’s only gotten worse. We’re in room 127.” The usually calm Nurse sounded frantic and panicked.

 

“Okay. Uh… I’ll get there as fast as possible.” Mark started to panic too, who the hell was gonna drive him? Jaemin. Jaemin was the only person. He dialed the number at lightning speed and really really hoped he would pick up.

 

“Mark, it’s ten in the morning on a Saturday… why are you waking me up?” Jaemin’s voice came in with a little bit of a rasp and a yawn or two.

 

“I need you to drive me to the hospital.”

 

“You’re kidding.” Jaemin deadpanned.

 

“No, you’re the only one who can drive! I really need you to drive me.”

 

“Mark if you cut yourself or something I’m sure it’s not that serious. Here I’ll give you some first aid tips…”

 

“Jaemin, my Grandmother is gonna die and if I don’t get to that goddamned hospital I will never ever forgive myself.”

 

“Oh. You didn’t tell me it was your grandmother. But if I’m gonna drive you, you better buy me an iced coffee and you’re gonna have to deal with a hungover Jeno. I can’t leave the idiot at my house.”

 

“That’s fine. Thank you so much! You’re fucking amazing.”

 

“Now get your ass to my house in the next ten minutes, you got that?”

 

\------------------------------

 

All four boys piled into Jaemin’s family car, a very hungover Jeno sitting next to Donghyuck in the backseat. Both of them fell asleep on the way there, and both of them loudly snored. Donghyuck looked like needed the nap and Jeno was just extremely drunk and sad so it was better to keep him asleep anyway. No one had to hear the story of how he accidentally killed a turtle with a rock 8 years ago.

 

“Uhh… turn here.” Mark directed.

 

“I know where the hospital is your dumbass. I’ve been there before.”

 

“I know but.”

 

“But shut up, it’s too early for this.”

 

“It’s like almost eleven.”

 

“Still too early for this shit Mark. Now sit down and shut up. Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole.” Mark didn’t understand where the reference was from and got confused, but this was Jaemin. There were a lot of things to be confused about.

 

Once they were in the parking lot of the hospital, Mark sprinted out. The car wasn’t even in the park yet. Jaemin didn’t stop him, instead, yelling at him to not break his leg. Donghyuck was the next to get out, running after his boyfriend with a weird rhythm because of the cast on his arm. Running was harder than it seemed, maybe it was good to take mental note of that.  Mark ran down the hallways as people told him to slow down, he shuffled his way through the narrow hallways until he finally made it to the front desk. He was greeted by a friendly face holding a clipboard in her hands.

 

“How may I help you? Are you here to visit someone?”

 

“Yes,” Mark huffed out as he tried to catch his breath,” My grandmother. She should be in room 127?”

 

“Yes. Right down the hall and to the right-”

 

“Mark! You piece of crap! Wait for me next time, I can’t run very fast with this cast. It kinda gets in the way… oh sorry.” Donghyuck flushed a shade of light pink as he realized what he had interrupted.

 

“He’s with me.” Mark grabbed Donghyuck harshly by the wrist (the good one that didn’t have part of a cast on it) and lead him down the hallway. “Room 127.” The two boys stood in front of a birch wood door, the name tag of the doctor under the room number. Quietly, the two entered, trying not to make a sound.

 

“Mark. You’re here. Nurse Moon rose from the chair, everything about him looking exhausted. It had been a long day. “They say it’s an infection and that her lungs are shutting down. They hooked her up to an IV and tried to clear some fluid out. She’s sleeping right now.” Mark could see his grandmother on the hospital bed, looking weak and worn out. Her skin was a sickeningly pale shade, she was hooked up to some oxygen tank, and her arm was poked with the IV. It was almost a though this was a completely different woman. The grandmother Mark knew was a tough lady who cracked funny jokes and took pride in her beautiful lake house. This was not the same lady. It was heartbreaking to see her this way, in a such a terrible state. Mark backed into a chair in shock, trying to hold back tears. This had to be the end. There was nothing else.

 

“Mark.” Donghyuck placed Mark’s hand in his, trying to comfort his boyfriend. He played with his fingers and squeezed, trying to take his mind off of what was happening in front of him. “Mark.” He repeated, leaning his head on Mark’s shoulder.

 

“Yes?”

 

“We should check on Jaemin and Jeno right… maybe get some lunch for poor Nurse Moon? He looks like he’s gonna pass out.” Donghyuck smiled, looking over at a zoning out nurse who looked like he was ready to clonk out and fall asleep at any moment.

 

“Oh. Right.”

 

\-------------------------------

 

Mark and Donghyuck could hear the crickets and see the fluttering fireflies outside of the hospital window. It would have been beautiful if Mark wasn’t worried out of his mind.

 

“Mark.” Donghyuck had spent most of his day trying to comfort his love, who was still stuck in his own terrible la la land. Jaemin and Jeno had long ago left and Nurse Moon was currently sleeping on the couch. “Baby. Are you okay?”

 

“Yeah. Stuck in my own headspace.” Mark snapped out of his trance.

 

“It’s more than that though. You’re worried… aren’t you. I can see it on your face. You’re very expressive when you want to be.” Donghyuck smirked, nuzzling his face into Mark’s chest.

 

“If my grandmother dies, then we’re all screwed. Nurse Moon will have to leave, then it would be you and me. I don’t know how to pay bills, I can’t cook an egg. Then when I have to back for school, you’ll be all alone and you don’t have anywhere to go because your parents disowned you and you don’t have a phone so we can’t talk to each other. Then you’re gonna be out on the streets all alone and I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if you got kidnapped or something. Then you...you’ll-” Mark’s words came out frantically, each one picking up in pace.

 

“Calm down. Mark, we’ll figure it out. We figured it out when I got kicked out right?”

 

“Well yeah, but that was easy. All you needed to do was move in with me. This is different, we live in very different places and no one can help you… I … I really love you and I don’t want you-” A high pitched sound filled the air, making Mark and Donghyuck jump. The line on the EKG was going flat extremely quickly. Mark started to panic, trying to call someone, anyone for help.

 

“Help! Help!” Mark yelled down the hallway, trying to get anyone’s attention he could. Nurse Moon jolted awake with a start, also starting to panic when he realized what was happening. Mark’s yelling finally caught the attention of one of the doctors, who came racing into the room. Donghyuck started to cry, he didn’t know why but all the commotion made his tears spill out.  

 

“Pulmonary Edema to Cardiac Arrest. Code blue. Code blue!” The EKG was moving fast now, each beat picking up in speed. Mark was relieved for a minute. But it wasn’t to last. Doctors pushed him out of the way, crowding around the bed. It felt as though everything was moving in slow motion. Donghyuck grabbed Mark and restrained him from running towards the bed.

 

“Mark! Mark!” Mark tried to fight back and kicked him in the shin. “Stop! Mark stop it. Let them do their job.” Mark didn’t listen. He was like a lion, a huge lion who was in charge of the pride, bearing its sharp teeth defensively.

 

“Get off me! Get the hell off me Dong hyuck! Off!” Turns out it was even easier than it looked to shove a guy with a cast off you. Dong hyuck’s grip came undone and Mark started over the bed.

 

“Mark!” Donghyuck grabbed his arm again, pulling him back as best he could. Mark pushed Donghyuck into the wall, making him wince in pain. The EKG started to go faster, the line sloping downwards and upwards quickly. Mark was starting to go hysterical. He was worried. He didn’t want Donghyuck to be left alone, he didn’t want his grandmother to die. He didn’t want this summer to end. He didn’t want it to ever end. He didn’t want to leave. But he really knew it was only a matter of time.

 

Everyone in the room, doctors and otherwise, started to run around like mad men. Some ran in some ran out, but no one seemed to be attending to the problem at hand. Mark was frozen, it was as though he had turned into a statue. At one point, a doctor started to perform CPR and try to get Mark’s grandmother breathing again. Then someone started up the defibrillator. Mark stood there, watching it all happen. The doctors powered up the defibrillator and tried to save the old lady. Shock after shock. Mark still stood there, slack-jawed and ready to cry. In a matter of 20 minutes, it was all over. She was dead. Dead as a doorknob kind of dead. A crowd of people came in to take her body. Mark wanted to claw at them, to get them away so he could mourn for a minute. But he kept his mouth shut. He didn’t even move from his seat. Donghyuck was crying in Nurse Moon’s shoulder, he didn’t even know why anymore.

 

“We should… we should go home. Mark. We’re leaving.” Nurse Moon picked up his things and started to leave the room. Donghyuck followed behind him, his eyes puffy and red.

 

“I’m sorry, Mark.”

 

Mark fell asleep that night with Donghyuck curled up against his chest, trying to dry his never-ending tears.

 

\--------------------------------

 

Morklee has opened a chat room with: Skinny Legend Tae (Taeyong), Lady Gaga impostor (Doyoung), Milkman (Jaehyun), John's Banana (Johnny), Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter (Ten), Jungwoo<3 (Jungwoo), and Thicc boi inc. (Lucas)

 

Morklee: Guys my grandmother passed away yesterday.

 

Jungwoo <3: oh that's terrible mark.

 

Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter: my condolences.

 

John's Banana: that sucks. At least it means you can come back early.

 

Morklee: Not really. I have someone I don’t want to leave.

 

Thicc boi inc. : i thought u hated it there m8?

 

Morklee: I dont mind it too much

 

Milkman: well i don’t think you’ve missed it too much.

 

John's Banana: come on Mark u should come back early.

 

Morklee: I have to stay.

 

John's Banana: wow I see we matter to you a lot.

 

Lady Gaga impostor: Johnny, don’t take anything too far.

 

John's Banana: You said you hated that old hag. What changed your mind.

 

Morklee: Johnny. I’m not gonna tell you.

 

John's Banana: thanks for making us feel included in your life Mark. I thought we were friends. Hell, you haven’t texted us in a month. A month!!!!

 

Morklee: I’ve been busy.

 

Thisisnoticecreamthisisbutter: Johnny shut up about it. Shut the fuck up.

 

Jungwoo <3: if he doesn’t wanna tell don’t make him.

 

John's Banana: I just want him to think about our feelings. What’s so important about that person

 

Morklee: he’s my boyfriend… for fuck's sake shut up.

 

Skinny Legend Tae: well this is awkward

 

\---------------------------------

 

The day was hot and sunny, a perfect beach day. Not a cloud in the sky. What a great day for a funeral. Mark was sitting in one of the chairs for the ceremony, feeling like he was going to erupt into flames. He was wearing a black tux in about 90-degree heat. His parents had come a few days ago, trying to plan the funeral. It was a small crowd, just a few close cousins and aunts and uncles. A lot of invitations were sent out, but most people didn’t bother to show up. So instead of the family reunion his parents were hoping for, it was more of a small get together. Donghyuck was there too, mostly because he had nowhere else to go. Of course there was the fact that Mark’s grandmother let him stay and wasn’t a complete and utter asshole.

 

The last week had been pretty rough, it was basically on and off crying between Donghyuck and Mark. Mark cried because he was depressed and Donghyuck cried because he was depressed and because Mark was crying.

 

“Mark.” Donghyuck squeezed his hand, making him look up from his trance.

 

“Hmmm?”

 

“You okay?”

 

“I’m good. Just spaced out.” He smiled.

 

“I know. I love you, Mark.”

 

“Me too. As in like I love you too. Fuck, I’m so stupid.”

 

“I get it. We need to tell your parents soon.”

 

“I know it’s... I don’t wanna make things more awkward or put more stress on them.” Mark played with Donghyuck’s fingers, trying to distract himself. “Besides, I don’t want them disowning me.”

 

“Would they do that?” Donghyuck cocked an eyebrow.

 

“No.”

 

“Then tell them, Mark.”

 

“I will. Just not now.”

 

The rest of the funeral was very funeral-y. Sad, depressing and overall boring. A lot of people shed fake tears and said fake condolences. Mark could see them lying through their teeth. They didn’t even know the lady, let alone spend time with her. It took all of Mark’s restraint not to yell at them, to not tell them off. 2 months ago, Mark would have been in the same boat as them. 2 months ago, Mark would have wanted to stay home and not even come. 2 months ago, Mark would have never known his own grandmother. If it wasn’t for these two long… long months… Mark would have never met Donghyuck.  He never would’ve had his first kiss. If he was given the choice to go back, he wouldn’t.

 

\---------------------------------

 

It was 2 weeks before the start of Mark’s Junior year. 2 weeks before he would have to leave Dong hyuck. His parents were still in the cabin, clearing out all of the old furniture and memories. They wanted to sell the place, to get rid of it and not to worry anymore, but Mark couldn’t agree. Nurse Moon was still there, his paycheck didn’t come from another week, so he decided to stay. It might have been for the better. He was a great cook and a pretty good listener. Mark and Donghyuck spent most of their time in their room, laying there and either sleeping or staring at the ceiling.

 

“I don’t know what I’m gonna do without you.” Donghyuck cuddled Mark, trying to move so that his cast wasn’t in the way. Mark chuckled a little bit, mostly because of this drawing of a penis that Jeno drew when Donghyuck wasn’t looking. Everyone called him penis arm for a good few days before he beat up Jeno and made him apologize. The poor kid was covered in bruises for a good couple days.  No one messed with Dong hyuck’s cast after that. It was a pretty well-drawn penis too.

 

“I don’t know what I’m gonna do before I leave. I can’t leave you alone.”

 

“I can manage myself thank you very much. I only set fire to a pot once.”

 

“Yeah, and you almost burnt down the house.” Mark laughed again, Donghyuck looking exasperated.

 

“I had it under control! Shut up you craptart.”

 

“What the hell is a craptart?”

 

“You.”

 

“I’m so offended.” Mark held a hand over his chest, exaggerating a little more than necessary. These were the times he knew he was gonna miss. The times he knew he wouldn’t find anywhere but the lake house. The long nights awake, talking about anything that could keep a mind busy. The sneaking out at midnight to buy pizza and hang out with Jeno and Jaemin. The jumping out the window and going to splash each other in the lake. Summer felt like an eternity and a second all at once. It was even the less rebellious things. Braiding Dong hyuck’s hair while he was reading. Playing dumb games to make themselves laugh. Even knitting while Donghyuck planted kisses on Mark’s neck. All of it would be different. Definitely for worse.  

 

\----------------------------------

 

The blistering hot sun beat down on Mark’s already tanned skin. Donghyuck and he held hands as they walked around the perimeter of the lake.

 

“I feel like I’m gonna melt. Can we go back inside?” Donghyuck whined as he tried to fan himself with his hand.

 

“No. I need to show you something.”

 

“But can you show it to me inside. You know that would make my day Mark. You love me, don’t you? Cuz if you do you’ll take me inside.”

 

“Yeah, I love you… but no.”

 

“You’re such a shithead.”

 

“And you’re a craptart.”

 

“You’re never gonna let me live that down are you?”

 

“Never in a million years.”

 

“Great.” Donghyuck rolled his chocolate colored eyes.

 

“Just wonderful, right? Close your eyes! It’s a surprise.” Mark guided him to the dock of the lake, sitting him down on the wood.

 

“You know I hate surprises, Mark.”

 

“Exactly why I did this. Open your eyes.” Dong hyuck’s eyes fluttered open, MArk revealing to him a beautiful painting of the sunset. It was a mix of blues, purples, yellows, pinks, and beautiful oranges. It felt as if the sunset was right in front of him, even though it was only noon.

 

“Mark! It’s so pretty!” He gave him a kiss on the cheek, making Mark blush a little. “ How’d you make this?”

 

“A lot of tears, paint, and time.”

 

“It’s… amazing,” Donghyuck clasped his hands in Mark’s, “I love it. I love it so much. It should be in a museum.”

 

“I wouldn’t say that.”

 

“You don’t have to, I did.” Donghyuck smiled.

 

“This is a date, right?”  

 

“Sure, Mark. It’s a date.”

 

“You know how we end dates. With a kiss.”

 

“I thought you’d never ask. But who says it’s over?”

 

“Well…. I wanted a kiss. Not a lecture. But if it’s your voice I’m fine with it.” Mark got his kiss.

 

“So what are we gonna do now? I mean you have to leave, right?” Donghyuck sat down on the dock, facing Mark. Mark took a seat right next to him. What was he gonna do? He hadn’t thought of it.

 

“I don’t know. Whatever it is… I know it’ll be with you.”

 

Fin.

  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a one shot. It turned into a month long writing project with about 1,000 words written a day. I loved writing this, and I hope you enjoyed reading it! It took forever and I probably won't ever make anything this long ever again (watch me make some other long fanfiction). Thanks for reading!


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